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Bird Hazards to Aircraft

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Bird Hazards to Aircraft BIRD HAZARDS TO AIRCRAFT Problems and Prevention of Bird/Aircraft Collisions H. BLOKPOEL Published by Clarke, Irwin & Company Limited in association with the Canadian Wildlife Service, Environment Canada and the Publishing Centre, Supply and Services Canada. Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Blokpoel, H., 1938- Bird hazards to aircraft Bibliography Includes index. ISBN 0-7720-1086-2 bd. ISBN 0-7720-1087-0 pa. 1. Airports - Bird control. 2. Aeronautics - Accidents. 3. Bird control. I. Title. II. Canada. Wildlife Service. TL725.3.B5B56 614.8'69 C76-017100-9 (Q Minister of Supply and Services Canada 1976 Govt. catalogue no. CW66-47/1976 Hardback ISBN 0-7720-1086-2 Paperback ISBN 0-7720-1087-0 No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper or broadcast. Published simultaneously in the United States by Books Canada Inc., 33 East Tupper Street, Buffalo, N.Y. 14203, and in the United Kingdom by Books Canada Limited, 1 Bedford Road, London N2. 1 2 3 4 5 JD 80 79 78 77 76 Printed in Canada This book is dedicated to my mother and the memory of my father. Acknowledgements This book was wiitten at the request and under the auspices of the Associate Committee on Bird Hazards to Aircraft of the National Research Council of Canada. Several members and ex-members, particularly W.H.S. Bird, A.J. Bosik, H. Boyd, H.R. Finley, G.M. Geekie, C.E. Hansen, R.M. Kidd, J.W. Noonan and A.B. Simpson, gave expert advice. The enthusiasm and comments of V.E.F. Solman, the Chairman of the Committee, were of great help in bringing the book to completion. M.S. Kuhring, who chaired the Committee from 1962 to 1973, provided technical material and helped compile bird strike statistics and Appendix 7-L. Several other people contributed by giving advice, making comments and suggestions, or by providing certain information or references. Their names are: Th. Alerstam, M. Blokpoel, H.E. Bryant, T. Brough, A.P. de Jong, V.E. Ferry, H.S. Fowler, R.W. Fyfe, A.J.W. Hoorn, E.W. Houghton, F.R. Hunt, A.H. Joensen, J. Karlsson, W. Keil, M. Laty, G. Lid, M. Louette, J. Thorpe, J.M.M. van der Heyde, and L. van't Hof. The competent editing of L.W. Bilingsley increased the readability of the book while decreasing its bulk, and, hence its price. Financial assistance was received from the Ministry of Trans- port and the Department of National Defence through the Associate Committee. vii ,. Table of Contents Acknowledgments / vii List of figures / xi List of tables / xii List of appendices / xii Foreword / xiii A suggestion to readers / 1 Introduction / 2 Chapter i: Birds and Bird Migration / 5 Birds in general / 5 Bird migration / 10 Local flghts / 20 Flock density / 22 Behaviour of birds with respect to approaching aircraft / 23 Chapter 2: Bird Strike Statistics / 31 Reporting, analyzing, and publishing of bird strike statistics / 31 Types of damage resulting from bird strikes / 38 Bird strike statistics / 47 Conclusions / 65 Chapter 3: Bird-proofing of Aircraft and Engines / 69 Impact forces / 69 Airworthiness requirements regarding bird impact / 71 Bird-proofing / 74 Test procedures and equipment / 83 Conclusions / 89 Chapter 4: The Search for On-board Equipment to Disperse Birds / 91 On-board lights / 91 On-board lasers / 93 On-board microwaves /95 Conclusions / 96 ix Chapter 5: Prevention of Bird Strikes at Airports / 99 Bird observation methods / 100 Bird dispersal methods / 102 Bird removal and bird killing methods / 123 Habitat manipulation / 129 Planning of new airports / 150 Conclusions / 153 Chapter 6: Prevention of Bird Strikes Away from Airports / 157 Procedures to minimize strike risks during periods of high bird densities / 157 Bird distribution maps / 159 Bird migration forecasts and warnings / 167 An "ideal" system to warn of bird movements / 173 Conclusions / 183 Chapter 7: Organizations Working on the Bird Strike Hazard / 185 A national committee / 186 Work of a national committee / 186 International committees / 187 International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) / 188 World conferences / 189 Measurement conversion table (English-Metric) / 190 Appendices to Chapters 1 through 7 / 191 List of abbreviations / 209 References to Chapters 1 through 7 /210 Photo credits / 229 Index / 231 r i List of figures Snow Geese at their staging grounds / 4 1-1 Migration routes of the Whistling Swan / 15 1-2 Migration routes of the White Stork / 16 Bird strike damage to a C F - 104 aircraft / 30 2-1 Procedures for reporting bird strikes in Canada / 32 2-2 Examination of a turbine engine after a bird strike / 35 2-3 Some components of a jet airliner / 38 2-4 Wing of an aircraft ruptured by bird impact / 39 2-5 Tail of an aircraft damaged by bird impact / 39 2-6 Nose cone of an aircraft pushed in by bird impact / 40 2-7 Nose cone of an aircraft penetrated by a bird / 41 2-8 Windshields of aircraft shattered by bird impact / 42 2-9 An aircraft turbine engine that failed after bird ingestion / 43 2-10 Destruction of turbine engine caused by bird strike /44 2-11 Distribution of bird strikes by aircraft speed / 58 2-12 An Osprey kiled in a collision with an aircraft / 61 Experimental windshields for tests with "bird gun" / 68 3-1 Frontal areas of various aircraft types / 70 3-2 Cross-sections of turbine engines / 75 3-3 Rotors, stators, and their assembly / 76 3-4 Compressor disc with rotor blades / 76 3-5 Bird deflector gril for turboprop engines / 78 3-6 Cross-section of a curved acrylic windshield / 81 3-7 Cross-section of a leading edge of a horizontal stabilzer and two modifications / 84 3-8 Birds suspended over the track of a rocket sled / 85 3-9 "Bird gun" for simulating bird impact / 87 3-10 Apparatus to test effect of bird impact on single compressor blades / 88 Apparatus to test effect of microwave radiation on chickens / 90 Owls trapped at Toronto International Airport / 98 5-1 Stuffed gulls used to drive gulls away / 105 xi 5-2 Recording of distress call of a gull 1 110 5-3 Various methods used to rid airfields of birds 1 116 5-4 Birds of prey used to scare birds from airports 1 119 5-5 Model aircraft being tested for bird removal 1 122 "Echoes" of flocks of Snow Geese on a radar screen 1 156 6-1 Bird distribution map for northwest Europe 1 161 6-2 Bird distribution map for Canada 1 162 6-3 Density patterns of bird echoes on a radar screen 1 178 6-4 Migration Traffic Rate versus radar signal attenuation 1 179 6-5 PPI gate indicator and intensity/bearing diagrams 1 181 Gulls at a garbage dump 1 184 List of Tables 2-1 Crashes in civil aviation caused by bird strikes 1 48 2-2 Crashes in military aviation caused by bird strikes 1 49 2-3 Distribution of bird strikes by aircraft part struck 1 51 2-4 Bird strikes for which both height and species have been published 1 63 List of Appendices 1-1 Weights and flock densities for some bird species 1 191 1-2 Heights of migrating birds obtained from radar studies 1 192 1-3 Groundspeeds for some bird species 1 193 2-1 Number of bird strikes in civil aviation 1 194 2-2 Number of bird strikes on miltary aircraft 1 195 2-3 Bird strike data for Air Canada, 1959-73/196 2-4 Species involved in bird strikes in Canada 1 197 2-5 Birds (by group) involved in collsions with aircraft 1 198 5-1 Planning guidelines for land use outside airports in Canada 1 200 7-1 National groups and individuals working on bird strike problems 1 204 7-2 Bird Strike Committee Europe and its Working Groups 1 207 foreword Birds and aircraft have collded with damage to both almost from the beginning of aviation. Early aircraft flew at such low speeds that birds had little difficulty getting out of the way. Nevertheless, the first recorded loss of a human life in an aircraft crash caused by a bird occurred in 1912. Since then, as both the speeds of aircraft and the number of aircraft flying have increased, so have incidents involving bird collsions. When turbine power began to replace piston engines in the 1950's, the problem increased in importance. In 1960 the crash of a passenger airliner resulting from bird ingestion in turbine engines resulted in the loss of more than 60 human lives. Military aircraft are exposed to a more serious risk because some exercises involve high speed at low altitude, where more birds are commonly present. Losses of military aircraft have been numerous and costly. In some countries lives have been lost as well. The loss of and damage to equipment continues to be of concern, but the loss of human life has not been great in recent years. The difference between loss of human life and serious damage to aircraft without that loss depends on the circumstances of the bird strike. A difference of six inches in the point of impact can change the result from structural breakage to loss of life. Luck has played too large a part in the past for us to be complacent.
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