Air travel has encountered a rather unique kind of growing threat – Collisions between birds and airplanes. The volume of air traffic has increased drastically in past decade and has increased the probability of wildlife collisions. The situation is dire in New York City as it is the home for three major commercial airports and several other non-commercial air bases.
A JetBlue Airbus flying from Boston to Las Vegas had to make an emergency landing at the John F. Kennedy International Airport on Oct 23, 2017 when the crew reported a bird strike incident at level off at 3000 feet above the ground. They flight was hit by a flock of sea gulls at its left side which may have impacted the engine, and called for an emergency landing incident.
According to the data from the Federal Aviation Administration, such collisions in the United states have increased from an average of 18 day in year 2000 to 30 per day in 2010. As a result of precautionary measures, there has been a minor drop to 26 per day in 2016 when the data was last updated. The situation is emblematic to New York City as data for the airports in the city demonstrates similar patterns.
The FAA Wildlife Strike Database, made public in 2009, contains records on over 130,000 reported wildlife strikes since 1990. Each record has 93 fields, including the airline operator, airport, aircraft type, wildlife involved and general information pertinent to the report. Injuries and fatalities were also included. The incidents are reported voluntarily by the pilots and airport authorities, thus create a grey area in terms of accuracy. However, the reports are precise enough to understand the alarming state of the wildlife strike incidents, and the ecological and economical dangers it projects.
Pilots have documented horrific stories of wildlife collisions. Such strikes put people at risk. Since 2000, the data shows that 132 people have been injured in collisions between wildlife and planes, and has led to loss of life to 18 people.
Economically, these strikes have destroyed more than 245 aircraft during the same time frame, that impacted to a huge loss of financial resources to the country. On an average, $600 million is lost annually due to wildlife strikes within the United States.
The issue has been in notice to the authorities for a while now, and actions are in effect to curb the crisis. However, an important side of the story is neglected and buried under the human life and financial losses – Wildlife preservation.
In 2014, the FAA wildlife Strike Database counted 13,159 incidents of total bird strikes in the country. There were an additional 509 accidents that involved other types of wildlife, including mammals and reptiles. Birds were involved in 97.2 percent of the reported cases, mammals in 2.3 percent, bats in 0.4 percent and reptiles in 0.1 percent.
The strikes are very frequent during the migration season of early winter. The collisions often occur below 3,500 feet during takeoffs and landings when the planes are relatively close to the ground. The data also shows that 62 percent of the strike occur during daytime.
These patterns suggest that it is not just the increasing number of wildlife that is causing the severity of the issue, as laid out by the FAA. It is important to notice that the increased air traffic is hindering the ecological system. The migration patterns and lifestyles of these birds and animals are disrupted by such leisure human activities. Yet, it is the wildlife that the authorities publicly blame to be the reason for their losses.
It is necessary to notice that a part of this wildlife comprised of endangered and rare species like Turkey vulture, Red-Tail Hawk, Bald Eagle and Great Blue heron. It’s a high time that this unattended side of the story needs to be addressed. Especially in a place like the New York City, where wildlife preservation is prominently becoming a part of the metropolitan lifestyle with the rise of awareness for such topics.
Rasika Rane 