The recent airplane crash in New York’s Hudson River was caused by a double bird strike which disabled both of the aircraft’s engines. A bird strike is just that, a bird hitting a plane, and apparently it happens all the time. Considering how often I fly, I can’t believe I had never heard of this phenomenon before last week. According to the FAA there are an average of over 7,000 bird strikes annually and that number is growing. While manufacturers try to create engines that will withstand the impacts, it’s almost impossible when the birds are over 5 pounds as bigger engines would make flying difficult.

The Bird Strike Committee USA is a volunteer organization that meets each year to discuss and explore options to combat the problem. They hope to eventually figure out how to prevent strikes altogether, but for now it remains an issue. Although there is no way to guarantee that an incident like this won’t happen again, most bird strikes do not take a plane down and this is the first report in history of both engines being disabled by wildlife.

Luckily, all of the passengers survived and the U.S. airlines are still working on their third year of flying without a fatality. Perhaps this will serve as a reminder to those of us who fly frequently to pay attention when the safety procedures are read before a flight. Even though we may have heard them many times before, it’s a good idea to have them fresh in our minds in the rare but possible case of an accident. It’s also important to be aware of the nearest exits and the number of rows in front of you and behind you that are in between. Accidents will always happen, but they are much easier to digest and deal with when they have a happy ending.

Bird Strike Committee USA