CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Late Thursday night, an American Airlines flight from New York's LaGuardia airport bound for Charlotte Douglas International had to make an emergency landing after a bird strike. The plane landed safely at John F. Kennedy International.
The incident had some members of the WCNC Charlotte newsroom wondering if more bird strikes are happening. We decided to start digging for more information.
THE QUESTION
Are bird strikes to airplanes happening more often?
THE SOURCES
THE ANSWER
Yes, bird strikes to airplanes are happening more often.
WHAT WE FOUND
The FAA and USDA looked at wildlife strikes to civil aircraft from 1990 to 2023.
During that time, 296,613 were reported around the globe, with 98.3% of those happening in the U.S., with most of them being bird strikes.
Almost every year saw an increase in strikes.
The only year with a significant dip was 2020, which was due to less travel because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2023 alone, there were 19,603 documented strikes. That’s roughly 54 wildlife strikes every day. 3.6% of those were damaging.
Looking specifically at birds, the report found 54% of bird strikes occurred between July and October, with 62% of those happening during the day.
61% of the time, birds are hit when a plane is arriving somewhere, compared to 34% of hits happening when a plane is departing.
About 70% of bird strikes occurred at or below 500 feet above ground level. However, strikes occurring above 500 feet were more likely to cause damage.
From 1990 to 2023, 83 strikes destroyed aircraft. In 2023, wildlife strikes were projected to cost the U.S. civil aviation industry more than 62,000 hours of aircraft downtime and $461 million in losses.
However, progress is being made. Management actions to mitigate the risk have been implemented at many airports since the 1990s.
In the 15 years since the "Miracle on the Hudson," which was caused by a bird strike, more than $400 million has been allocated for wildlife-related projects such as Assessments, Plans, and airport perimeter fencing. The FAA has also dedicated over $30 million in research funds since then.