U.S. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) will introduce legislation requiring the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to make reporting bird strikes mandatory.

Schumer takes his cue from the Bird Strike Committee USA, an independent organization comprised of representatives from the Pentagon, FAA, USDA, the aviation industry and U.S. airports, set up to provide leadership on aviation wildlife hazard management.

“Bird Strike Committee USA supports more aggressive reporting of all wildlife strikes, up to and including making strike reporting mandatory. Significantly reducing the aircraft/wildlife threat will require a collaborative effort by all aviation stakeholders with a major investment in education and research and development,” the advisory group believes.

This move comes in the wake of release of new data that reveals that only 20 percent of bird strikes are reported. Newly released data collected by the FAA show that airplane collisions with birds have more than doubled at 13 major U.S. airports since 2000. Currently bird strike reporting is voluntary, not mandatory.

“The shocking bird strike data that has been released is a true wake up call for the FAA,” Schumer said. “It’s time for the FAA to do the right thing and inform the public about these serious safety issues. This data shows that bird strikes have long been a real concern, with safety concerns being swept under the rug. My bill will go a long way in protecting the public from costly repairs and dangerous situations.”

Laura J. Brown, an FAA spokesperson, said the U.S. aviation agency is evaluating whether voluntary reporting is sufficient.

The Air Transport Association (ATA) said the current voluntary system has made flying safer. "We believe that the voluntary reporting program that is in place today and ones like that ... used in the aviation safety community have been quite beneficial to the safety of aviation," said David Castelveter, a spokesman for the ATA, which represents major United States airlines. "We don't oppose mandatory reporting, but ... we just want to make sure that people recognize that that reporting system has limitations." ATA noted that the vast majority of cases result in little or no aircraft damage. "We will continue to support airlines in reporting bird strikes and work with airports to refine wildlife management plans," ATA added.

Mark Reis, managing director of Seattle-Tacoma International, says the aviation community has widely recognized that the threat to human health and safety from aircraft collisions with wildlife is increasing.

Of the 82,000 wildlife strikes reported to the FAA during an 18-year period (1990-2007), about 85 percent of these involved commercial aircraft with the remainder spread among business, private, and government aircraft.

This increase is thought to be a result of several factors: (1) an increased awareness that the FAA and airport operators are interested in receiving wildlife strike reports when they occur, (2) an increase in the number of civilian aircraft operations, and (3) an increase in population sizes of some wildlife species.

Although birds are involved in nearly 98% of the strikes, other wildlife, such as deer, elk and alligators, in addition to smaller animals such as coyotes, have also been struck and are known to cause aircraft damage.

One of FAA database’s most important contributions is information on aircraft altitude when these collisions are occurring:

While the record height for civil aircraft striking a bird in the U.S. is 32,500 feet above ground level (AGL), strikes at altitudes above 10,000 ft AGL are known to be rare. The data show most strikes (92%) occur below 3,000 feet AGL with a majority (60%) occurring at 100 feet AGL or less.

Fortunately, wildlife strikes resulting in very serious consequences for non-military operations have been very rare. From 1990 through 2007, the FAA has received reports of 43 aircraft hull losses—which include aircraft that crashed as well as those determined to be unflyable following the strike—as a result of wildlife strikes. Only two of these hull losses involved commercial aircraft.

Over that same time, 840 million landings and takeoffs took place, representing one civilian aircraft lost for every 1.9 million landings and takeoffs. Injuries and fatalities caused by wildlife strikes were also rare—197 injuries and 16 fatalities were attributed to wildlife strikes between 1990 and 2008. During this same period, there were over 12 billion commercial passengers enplaned in the U.S., a number that would be even higher if data were available regarding the number of individuals that flew on non-commercial aircraft.

“Not only can wildlife strikes be hazardous, they can also be costly. As noted by the FAA in 2004, wildlife strikes worldwide cost civil aviation an estimated $1.2 billion annually. While these statistics show that wildlife strikes are rare, we agree that because this problem is increasing, additional attention is merited,” stated Reis.

One way of keeping tabs on flying fowl at or around airports is advanced radar technology.

As has been widely reported, Sea-Tac, in cooperation with researchers at the University of Illinois, is exploring enhanced monitoring through use of an avian radar system.

First installed in August 2007, the airport now uses 3 Accipiter-Sicom avian radar systems. (Radar systems will soon be evaluated at Chicago O’Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, and John F. Kennedy International).

Stated Reis: “These avian radar systems act like a more powerful pair of eyes capable of seeing farther and higher than a human observer that is further restricted to daylight and observation periods. This information is being used to help confirm that hazardous bird activity is not increasing near the airport’s storm water ponds and to help identify wildlife trends. Avian radar allows significant bird activity to be monitored on a daily basis and may soon provide useful real time information that can be conveyed to those conducting wildlife control activities on the airfield.

“Although these radar systems have shown promise in detecting concentrations of birds in the vicinity of airports, two important question remains: (1) how much information do the air traffic controllers and pilots truly need to enhance safety, and (2) what actions if any should pilots and air traffic controllers take when concentrations of birds are found.

“As it currently operates today, avian radar is not yet the "silver bullet" as it detects too much bird activity, meaning we need to determine what information is best to pass on immediately to the air traffic controllers.

“With appropriate information screening, that capability may come -- just as wind shear radar, a technology that took years to perfect, can now alert air traffic control to hazardous weather events. Research into these systems and the appropriate level of communication with the end users is continuing,” stated Reis.

But the FAA says the jury is still out regarding the ability of avian radars to increase air safety at airports. FAA officials said bird radar research began in 2000.

The goal is to determine if low cost radars can reliably detect birds at or near (three to possibly five miles) to airports and be used to develop an airport bird strike advisory system. The radar data is overlayed on an airport geographic information system. The information could be displayed at the airports operation center or possibly in the aircraft cockpit.

“As many airports routinely have birds in the area, we do not yet know if this system would be capable of providing alerts that would be operationally suitable for making specific decisions on landing or takeoff. It may be of most use for airport operators to manage their wildlife control programs. The research is continuing to address these operational type issues,” the officials stated.

Fowl Facts:

• For an 18-year period (1990-2007), 82,057 strikes were reported to the FAA.
Birds were involved in 97.5 percent of the reported strikes, terrestrial mammals in 2.1 percent, bats in 0.3 percent and reptiles in 0.1 percent .

• Less than 20 percent of all strikes were reported to the FAA, As a result, the information on the number of strikes and associated costs compiled from the voluntary reporting program is believed to severely underestimate the magnitude of the problem.

• Wildlife strike reports were received from all 50 states. California, Texas, Florida, and New York had the most bird strikes. New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, Texas, Colorado, and Michigan each had 80 or more terrestrial mammal strikes. In all, strikes were reported at 1,625 airports.

• Most bird strikes (51 percent) occurred between July and October; 62 percent
occurred during the day; 60 percent occurred during the landing (descent,
approach, or landing roll) phase of flight; and 37 percent occurred during takeoff and climb.

• The aircraft components most commonly reported as struck by birds were the nose/radome, windshield, engine, wing/rotor, and fuselage. Aircraft engines
were the component most frequently reported as being damaged by bird strikes (32 percent of all damaged components).

• Gulls (20 percent), doves/pigeons (14 percent), raptors (13 percent), and waterfowl (nine percent) were the most frequently struck bird groups. Gulls were involved in 2.4 times more strikes than waterfowl. Waterfowl, however, were involved in more damaging strikes than were gulls.

• Thirty-one (72 percent) of the 43 wildlife strikes resulting in a destroyed aircraft occurred at GA airports, seven occurred away from an airport, and five occurred at airports certificated for passenger service. GA airports, often located in rural areas with inadequate fencing to exclude large mammals, face unique challenges in mitigating wildlife risks to aviation.

• An analysis of 18 years of strike data reveals the magnitude and severity of the wildlife-aircraft strike problem for civil aviation in the U.S. Wildlife strikes continue to pose a significant economic and safety risk for civil aviation in the U.S.

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