Helicopter Bird Strikes: The Stats (and real techniques for Avoidance!)

Spring is here! Water fowl and birds are about to be all over your area of operations.
If you are like me, you have had more than your fair share of near misses with large birds. And, like me, you probably have wondered how often bird strikes happen in our industry, how serious they are, and if there are any trends that can inform your flying technique. Did you know the FAA had a designated working group dedicated to the study of helicopter bird strikes? These guys ran the numbers so we can have the facts. The report I’m referencing was finalized in 2017 but the information is still relevant. And it is a long report, 116 pages to be exact. So, let me summarize it for you. Here are the details I found most interesting when presented to me by the FAA Rotorcraft Directorate, followed by the most important takeaways for safe flying in areas with high bird activity.

• Fatalities: There have been only 2 fatal bird strike accidents reported in civil aircraft in strike database – one took place in 2006 in an S76 in New York City, the other in a 407 in Stuttgart, Arkansas in 2017.
• Flight Regimes: with most bird strikes:
  • 66% happen in enroute phase
  • 8-9% during approach
  • 9-10% during climb
  • (85% happen during those parts)
• Night: 50% of bird strikes in Part 27 helicopters took place at night
• Speed: 77% of all bird strikes had airspeed above 80 kts
• Area of helicopter: windshields were the area hit the most (33%) followed by Main Rotor strikes (that were reported)
  
  HOW TO FLY IN AREAS OF HIGH BIRD ACTIVITY:
• In high Bird density areas, fly slower! It makes a huge difference in strike occurrence. They can see and avoid slower aircraft. Below 80 knots will dramatically reduce the likelihood of a strike.
• Altitude of birds tend to be higher in Spring and Fall and at night
  • April and October average altitude of strikes is 1300 feet AGL (Spring and Fall)
  • Summer and Winter average is 600 feet AGL
• Continuously having landing lights on increases likelihood of bird seeing and avoiding you. It reduces chance of a strike. More lights are better. Pulsating lights have been found to reduce the probability of a strike even further.
• Helmet and visor use significantly reduces risk in an accident
• Consider installing an Impact Resistant Windshield if available for your aircraft.
• Planning of flight to account for location of birds, recent events, seasonal considerations can help reduce strikes.
• It is a myth that birds dive. “The only thing consistent is that you don’t know what they will do”
• Flying (way) higher altitude reduces your chance of a strike. 95% happen below 3500 agl.
• Rotorcraft issues are almost all single-bird impact. 3% are flocks of birds, far less of an issue. So watch out for those birds of prey, and have your crew/passengers look out, too.
  
  AND NOW FOR SOME RANDOM FACTS:
• Birds don’t care about paint schemes. The stats don’t lie – just in case you were wondering.
• A regulation to Part 29 in 1996 required bird-strike resistant windshields – is it working? Yes:
  • 30-34% Strikes penetrated the windshield in aircraft that were not in compliance with the law or not required
  • 0% of strikes on compliant Part 29 aircraft (have Bird Resistant Windshield) penetrated
• Data for the info above has its shortcomings – strikes without damage often don’t get reported. So please improve the data and report all wildlife strikes to https://wildlife.faa.gov/add
  
  Resources and great reading about bird strike incidents:
• http://aerossurance.com/helicopters/fatal-s76c-birdstrike-2009/
• http://aerossurance.com/helicopters/as350-h125-birdstrike-red-kite/
• http://aerossurance.com/helicopters/deadly-dusk-hems-bird-strike/
• https://verticalmag.com/news/faa-665-helicopter-bird-strikes-over-last-3-years/
• https://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/rulemaking/committees/documents/media/ARAC%20RBSWG%20Final%20Report.pdf
  
  Got a bird strike story to share or comments? Leave it below.