While the exact cause of the tragic plane crash in South Korea that killed 179 people remains unclear, the question arises as to whether a bird strike – an increasingly common occurrence on aircraft around the world – could be responsible.

According to South Korean officials, the control tower at Muan International Airport issued a bird warning for the plane shortly before it was scheduled to land on Sunday. Investigators are actively investigating the crash and its possible causes.

Thanks to the rigorous testing that aircraft undergo during construction, they often withstand bird strikes. But these incidents cost airlines millions of dollars in damages every year, and although they are rare, they can also result in injuries and deaths.

Don’t worry, bird strikes are remarkably common

Essentially, pilots in the United States see bird strikes every day, which occur when a bird collides with an aircraft’s engine, cockpit window or nose, said Shawn Pruchnicki, a professor at the Center for Aviation Studies and Integrated Systems Engineering at Ohio State University. “When I was an airline pilot, we met birds all the time,” especially the small birds like cardinals, robins and sparrows.

Despite their frequency, aircraft collisions with birds and other wildlife are increasingly posing an aviation safety problem, according to a report released this year by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services. The report examined a 34-year period of bird and other wildlife attacks on aircraft from 1990 to 2023.

Researchers like Pruchnicki are working to better understand this phenomenon and its risks to aviation safety.

Here are some statistics that shed light on the frequency of bird and wildlife attacks:

• The FAA Wildlife Strike Database shows that there were approximately 19,400 strikes at 713 US airports in 2023. According to FAA data, about 236 strikes occurred at 92 airports in 55 countries in 2023.
• Worldwide, between 1988 and 2023, attacks on wildlife (including birds, deer and other animals) by civilian and military aircraft killed more than 491 people and destroyed more than 350 aircraft.
• In the United States alone, 76 people were killed and 126 aircraft destroyed by wildlife attacks during the same period.
• The FAA says About 61% of bird strikes by civil aircraft occur during the landing phase; 36% occur during takeoff and climb; and the rest (3%) occurs during the flight.

Serious damage can cost millions

The FAA requires commercial aircraft engines to be carefully designed and tested so that they continue to function even when birds are sucked in.

However, Pruchnicki says problems can arise when larger birds collide with an aircraft.

One notable incident involved Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger, who was forced to land his US Airways jet in the Hudson River in 2009 after hitting a flock of geese, causing both engines to fail. Luckily everyone on board survived. This incident highlighted to the general public the seriousness of bird strikes, Pruchnicki said.

An adult Canada goose can weigh up to 14 pounds. When such a bird hits a plane at high speeds – up to 350 miles per hour – the impact can be compared to a bowling ball hitting a window. And such damage quickly becomes expensive, said Pruchnicki.

Damage from bird strikes in the United States between 1990 and 2019 is estimated at up to $500 million per year. according to the FAA.

Damage to an aircraft’s engine, wing, nose, or windshield is usually not life-threatening. In most cases, the plane can still land safely. But after landing, the plane could remain out of service for weeks and undergo costly repairs, Pruchnicki said. For example, repairing a cracked cockpit window can easily cost up to $90,000. A dented wing? Maybe half a million dollars, he said.

“An aircraft that’s in maintenance doesn’t make any money, right? So it takes weeks to get it done and millions and millions of dollars to fix it. This is a huge problem for the airlines,” he said.

According to the report released in March 2023 by the Federal Aviation Administration and the US Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services, two turkey vultures collided with a B-737 Max 8 departing Jose Marti International Airport in Cuba. The collision damaged the plane’s radome and forced one of its engines to shut down. The pilots made an emergency landing, the passengers were evacuated and later rebooked, and the aircraft was taken out of service. Total repair costs? Estimated at $14.5 million.

Efforts to understand and prevent bird strikes continue

Many airports are being built near waterways and landfills, Pruchnicki said, which of course leads to collisions between nature and aircraft.

“We’re kind of invading their space,” he said.

Since the “Miracle on Hudson” in 2009, the U.S. government has provided tens of millions of dollars for airports to invest in wildlife protection programs and research into wildlife attack detection and monitoring systems.

Airports have tried a variety of techniques, such as lasers and cannons, to scare away birds and other wildlife, with varying degrees of success.

For his part, Pruchnicki said he is currently conducting research for the FAA to analyze the effectiveness of bird radar in preventing bird strikes at airports. The use of such devices to detect and track birds near airports is not currently required by the FAA.

Pruchnicki said: “The idea is to figure out how can we coexist?”