Are flocks of birds dangerous to airplanes?

Question

how many airplanes have crashed due to birds

Answer 1

Birdstrikes won't bring down an aircraft, unless it goes into the engine of a single engine aircraft, such as Cessa aircraft, a multi-engine aircraft flies through a flock of birds, and ingests birds through the engines to cause all of them to flame out, or causes severe engine damage. Another scenario would be a bird going through the front windscreen and incapacitating the pilot(s). In this case it would have to be a large bird, such as Canada geese, a bird of prey, or a seagull.

   While many of the larger airports have reduced bird activity around their runways, the smaller regional or municipal airports in rural areas bear constant watching by pilots in arriving and departing aircraft. Many of these airports are located near forested areas, where birds of prey may position themselves in order to patrol open field areas near airports for small rodents. These types of airports would also be found in near proximity to bodies of waters, such as open lakes and rivers, which is a common location for seagulls, ospreys, and fish hunting eagles. If the approach path to the airport brings aircraft over these areas of waters, striking these birds on an approach is common.

   In one airport I worked at, hawks were a real risk, because they would hover over the airfield, near the runways, just before an aircraft touched down and rolled out down the runway. The noise from aircraft engines (especially aircraft with loud Garrett engines) would scare small animals out of hiding places along the runway, causing them to dart away from the runways across an open field where we could see the hawks hovering, then folding in their wings and drop into a downward dive into a grassy area of the field. The hawks seemed to rationlize that the aircraft would scare up dinner for them, and would appear just before aircraft would arrive or take off.

Answer 2

yes.one plane got on fire and recurves back to the airport

Answer 3

Yes they are

Jackfrost large aircraft can be lost to Bird Strikes. The United States Air Force lost a E-6 in Alaska. This is a Radar Aircraft built on a Boeing 707,  two of the four engines ingested Canadian Geese during take-off. The Aircraft crashed and all souls aboard were lost.

The most likely times for a Aircraft to strike a bird are during Take-off and Landing. These are also the WORST possible times for an object to strike a plane. Not sure where you'd get the numbers of Crashes caused by Bird Strikes but it's is relatively low, when compared to other factors such as Human Error or Weather.

I have repaired a LOT of damage from Bird strikes on everything for Single Engine GA planes to the USAF's C-5A. It is potentially a VERY SERIOUS problem.

Answer 4

Flocks of birds are a hazard to aircraft.

I do not have specific numbers, but aircraft have been heavily damaged due to bird strikes.

The biggest issue would be an engine ingesting a bird.  As a result, engines are tested  for how they handle a bird strike, using different sized birds.

The second issue, which I have seen first hand, is a bird hitting the front of the aircraft, and entering the cockpit.  Here, damage to the windscreen and avionics can occur, as well as injury to the pilot flying.

The risk is greater during takeoff and landing, both due to the altitudes birds fly, but more so that airports are often times build where birds migrate (many airports are built on or near marshlands).

Many airports will issue advisories when their is heavy bird activity and many airports actively look at ways to keep birds aways from the runways (some use hawks and some use air cannons to scare the birds).

I hope this helps answer your question.