It's A Bird, It's A Plane, Oh No!

Airplane 'bird strikes' have climbed dramatically... FAA database records voluntary reports by airlines.

Canada geese graze on the Bay Trail in Millbrae, California as planes taxi out to runways behind them at nearby San Francisco International Airport.

The newly available FAA database lists 112,387 reports of aircraft striking wildlife, including reptiles and mammals, at 2,008 airports in the United States & Canada from January 1990 - November 2008.

Many airports are built near coastal wetlands which have seasonal influxes of migratory birds, but the problem also occurs inland with airports near agricultural areas.

Dallas / Fort Worth International ranks second among the country's airfields for reports of planes colliding with birds and fifth for collisions in which planes sustained serious damage, according to an analysis of the newly released federal data... A total of 1,529 wildlife strikes, usually birds, second only to Denver International.

A Christian Science Monitor article on the top ten US airports reporting wildlife-aircraft collisions includes YouTube video of a British jet's 'bird strike' at, and return to, Manchester England.

Photo: Lance Iversen - San Francisco Chronicle
Sources: Los Angeles Times & Dallas Morning News