ewrbasedpilot

I just received this "newsclip" from one of our safety guys. After reading about this birdstrike, I found myself laughing at what a "tool" this passenger was, and of course the news agency reporting this (note I didn't say ACCURATE....but hey, at least it was "fair and balanced" ) news. This passenger would make a great witness.............American Airlines Jet Forced to Land After Bird Strike



An American Airlines jet was forced to make an emergency landing Wednesday shortly after taking off in Missouri after one of its engines was disabled by a collision with a bird.

The American Airlines MD-80 jet landed at Lambert Airport in St. Louis shortly after takeoff around 2 p.m., FOX 2 in St. Louis reported.



"I was looking out the window when I saw a big ole' white thing flash by, then the engine jarred like someone dropped a ton of bricks on it," passenger Steve Quinlivan told FOX 2 by phone.

"Then I saw the whole thing come out the back end of it. They said we hit a bird, and it smelled like me barbecuing and forgetting my barbecue. It was a horrible smell."



A passenger on board the flight to Los Angeles told FOX 2 that he saw a bird "go into the engine," as the plane climbed.

The airline confirmed that the plane's right engine was disabled by the bird strike. American Airlines officials told FOX 2 the pilot immediately declared an emergency and returned to the airport.



None of the 140 people on board were injured.

American Airlines Jet Forced to Land After Bird Strike - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News - FOXNews.com

11Fan

Why? Because that particular smell is generally the result of the catering?

That said, if he was a pax, how did he see it come out the back? And given that most everything is made of brick in St. Louis, I would expect that comment.

FlyDL

Why don't they put a grate over the inlet to prevent the ingestion of birds and other FOD?

jtf560

A grate would restrict the airflow too much.

FlyDL

Maybe a retractable grate that opens up 100% at altitudes where FOD is not a concern?

crazyjaydawg

Lol, I am sure the bird came out in one whole piece!

In St. Louis everything must refer to BBQ.

Buckethead

Do airports have any kind of bird control regimen in place? With what occurred in NY city back in January, and many other incidents with bird strikes, one does wonder. Or would this be impossible for an airport to provide?
Thanks.

Richard

crazyjaydawg

Many aiports have multiple provisions in place that include:

-Ground mounted noise makers (small cannons shooting blanks)
-People in trucks that go out and use a variety of tools to scare birds
-Scare crows
-Bird specific radar
-Science ppl that come out and find ways to naturally force the birs to relocate
-Many other that I can't think of....

Bird strikes like this and the USAir occured during the initial climb phase and were more than a mile from the airport, tough to do anything about that except for neighbors with shotguns

Many non air carrier airports have these devices as well

tsquare

I don't have a good citation for this, but at JFK, the airport is located in a wildlife sanctuary of some kind and the (Port Authority I believe) has a full time ornithologist on staff to deal with the bird issue... I'll see if I can find out more about this and post later. At any rate, it is not an easy problem to deal with, thus the note you always get on the ATIS about "Birds in the vicinity"... well duuuh, but it does put the onus on the pilots.. yet again. What cracks me up about that is that you get the samo note at midnight, when most birds are sleeping.

USMCFLYR

Something akin to the system the MIG-29 uses (louvers on top when on the ground)?

USMCFLYR