Double Bird Strike?

Aug. 22, 2007
My brother-in-law Brian shared an odd story with me while we were on vacation. He told me that on Monday, August 6, a bird smashed into his windshield. The bird was large, and the resulting impact shattered the windshield, startling the heck out of him. The incident happened in the Dallas area. The odd thing -- Brian is not a pilot. He was not flying an airplane, but driving his truck to work when the bird hit his windshield. He never saw it coming. In fact, at first he didn't even know what had happened. The driver of the vehicle behind him witnessed the impact, and stopped behind Brian when he pulled over to the side of the road. The witness asked, "Wow, did you see that?" "No," replied Brian. "What happened?" "A big bird just fell out of the sky! It tumbled straight down out of the sky and hit your truck!" As Brian and I talked about the incident, two theories came to mind. First theory -- the bird died mid-flight of natural causes and tumbled back to mother earth. Second theory -- the bird hit an aircraft, and its tumbling carcass caused a second bird strike. I had never thought about what happens to a bird after it hits an aircraft in flight. I guess in some cases it can cause even more damage on the ground. Anyone know of a large bird striking an aircraft in the Dallas area on Monday, August 6? Thanks for reading! Joe Escobar