Keeping you safe whilst you're flying

Corporate travellers are familiar with safety procedures on flights and know that the odds of them being involved in a crash or mid-air incident are low.

Aviation engineering is highly sophisticated these days but no matter how high-tech a plane gets, there’s not a lot that can be done when a huge flock of large birds flies into the path of a commercial jet, like the one that was forced to land in the Hudson River in New York on January 15 when both of its engines were knocked out due to bird strike.

Although the US Airways jetliner’s two CFM engines were built to withstand sucking in five 1.5-pound birds or a single 4-pound bird, it couldn’t withstand the impact of the large flock of birds, which are now thought to be Canada geese, that flew directly into its path.

The pilot, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who has been hailed a hero for safely landing the plane carrying 155 people with no loss of life, said his “windscreen was suddenly filled with birds” shortly after take-off from LaGuardia International Airport.

Birds have always been a threat to aircraft and in the US, federal aviation laws require airports to have programs to prevent collisions between birds and planes. Airports use hawks, snarling dogs, fireworks, shotguns and water cannons to keep the birds away. They also keep the grass short to make it less attractive to birds, but there is only so much they can do once a plane is in the air.

Some examples of individual airports’ techniques to scare away birds include:

• Florida’s Fort Myers airport has a border collie that roams its site and the Orlando airport strains fish out of its storm water run-off pools to eliminate any food source for birds
• Washington’s Sea-Tac Airport has a pond filled with black floating balls to discourage birds
• The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey uses guns, pyrotechnics and hunting hawks to kill and chase away birds in the marshes and tidal flats around its two major airports in Queens

The deadliest bird collision event occurred in Boston in 1960, when a flock of starlings caused an Eastern Airlines plane to crash into Boston Harbour, killing 62 people. This event prompted the beginnings of America’s collision-avoidance programs and aviation engine upgrades to withstand bird strikes.