Plane and Bird Collisions are Rare, Aviation Experts Say

Jan. 16, 2009
A look at the probability of a crash like yesterday's in the Hudson river.

Birds and airplanes may both fly, but they do not live in harmony in the skies.

The bird strike believed to have been responsible for the crash of a US Airways A-320 into the Hudson River Thursday is rare, aviation experts said. But when birds - even small birds flying in flocks - get caught in an aircraft engine, which typically runs at 10,000 revolutions per minute, the result is nearly always disaster for the plane.

"The blades of the engines disintegrate into pieces," said Ross Aimer, a test pilot for Boeing Co., the giant commercial airplane manufacturer.

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