Was aboard a Harmony Airways 757 from JFK to YVR last Thursday evening that suffered a bird strike on takeoff. We made an emergency landing at JFK immediately involving emergency vehicles etc. Pilot said that no damage was apparent, although windshield was badly smeared. We resumed flight in same aircraft 5 hours afterwards.
Does anyone have any statistics as to how common such incidents are ? Also, the passengers were not informed of the emergency landing. What are the FAA rules regarding as to when passengers are to be informed as to adopting emergency landing procedures etc. ?
I believe the biggest problem is collecting data on bird strikes. There isn’t an official requirement on reporting. There’s now an online strike report to help collect data which in turn help us understand how to avoid these incidents.
In your case, I’m guessing the pilots didn’t officially declare an emergency which is why you were never informed as a passenger.
If a pilot needs to deviate due to bad weather and the controller does not allow it, the pilot can and will declare an emergency, set the appropriate squawk and the passenger will be none the wiser. This happens quite frequently.
In the posters flight, if the equipment was rolled to meet and greet at the runway, then you pretty much can bet the pilot declared an emergency so he could return to the airport without any delay (especially at JFK).
The emergency would be declared as a formality so the decks would be expiditiously cleared for the plane’s return to JFK.
I’d be betting the pilot thought the landing would be a non event, thus the no need to notify passengers other then they are returning to the airport.
Not sure how frequent bird strikes are, but I can tell you that the *threat * of a bird strike is there more often than most people ever know. I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve seen maintenance/security trucks driving around KCLE firing off flares and M-80s to scare entire flocks off the field. It’s a little unnerving to those of us who know what kind of damage those little suckers can cause.
I can’t even count how many bird strikes happen yearly with our airline. At least a few a day happen. Most are small, but, when the pilot reports it, a detailed inspection must happen before the plane flies. We had a duck go right through the skin into the avionics bay of one of our Brazilias. (it’s located aft of the radome just foward of the cockpit) Took us a few days to fix. Strange thing about that plane is, a few years before, it hit a DEER in Portland. Took weeks to fix. It has easter egg markings hidden on it with a deer head and a duck body.
Bird strikes are very common. About 90% do no damage, it’s the other 10% that they call me for. Oh! I should note, the deer in Portland was on the runway, not in the air!
And not a very good thought at that, Allen. I saw nothing wrong with the pictures. There wasn’t any blood or guts.
Are you sure you worked for an airline that flew the EMB120? If you really did then you would know the aircraft’s name is the Brasilia, not the Brazilia.
Seeing carcasses of birds on the windscreen is not offensive?
Blood stained nose cone not offensive?
Bird feet hanging out from a leading edge of a wing not offensive?
Bird getting spliced to bits by a rotor not offensive?
I’d say it’s better to err on the side of providing a link rather then forcing such pictures on users.
Whether you like it or not, it is a good thought since it is called COURTESY to others as what you may not find offensive is not the same for others.
I understand your reasoning, but to open a thread called “Bird Strike,” and then complain about pictures of bird strikes doesn’t seem to make much sense.
You are thinking that people will get offended/squeamish at those with the crap that is on basic TV these days??? Have you seen any of the 3 CSI shows? And that is just one example. I get more squeamish at some of the things Mike Rowe has to do on “Dirty Jobs.”
I saw nothing wrong with the pictures. There wasn’t any blood or guts.
