Wildlife strikes, particularly those involving birds, are on the rise in the United States and around the world. The latest incident involved a United Airlines jetliner operating a flight out of Denver International Airport to Canada. The Boeing 737 made a safe landing, and all passengers were unharmed.
There have been several such incidents in the last few weeks in the US, and while strike reporting is voluntary, the Federal Aviation Administration’s records show that thousands of wildlife strikes take place every year in the country involving civilian aircraft.
On April 13, a United Airlines Boeing 737-800 aircraft flying from Denver International Airport (DEN) to Edmonton International Airport (YEG) in Canada suffered a wildlife strike, forcing it to return to the airport of origin.
According to Flightradar24, the flight departed at 19:20 on Sunday evening but returned to Denver Airport less than an hour later. It’s a scheduled commercial service with a departure time of 19:15 and an arrival of 22:04. The flight usually takes around two and a half hours to complete.
On Sunday, the aircraft was carrying 153 passengers and six crew members. Videos circulating online show flames coming out of one of the engines of the plane, suggesting a bird strike. FOX31 quotes one of the passengers, Scott Wolff, as saying,
“Everything was normal. We boarded the plane in Denver, they did all their pre-check flight check stuff and they taxied us out into the start of the runway. They proceeded to get to speed and as soon as they rotated, there was a loud bang on the right-hand side of the plane, like a gunshot going off beside us, and then a massive vibration in the plane.”
“We were airborne and on the right side of the plane was this rhythmic ‘bang bang’ and a whirl and a ‘bang bang’ and it would keep going on and on. It was the same thing over and over. It was like fireballs coming out the back of the engine.”
Passengers were accommodated on another aircraft which arrived in Edmonton around three hours late. The Boeing 737-800 involved in the wildlife strike (registered N27213) is still grounded in Denver at the time of writing, as per Flightradar24. Simple Flying has contacted United Airlines for comments.
The Federal Aviation Administration keeps a Wildlife Strike Database with records of wildlife strikes since 1990. The official FAA website says strike reporting is voluntary, and the database only represents the information received from airlines, airports, pilots, etc.
Still, the numbers suggest that such incidents are on the rise. The FAA figures state that around 291,600 wildlife strikes involving civil aircraft were reported in the USA between 1990 and 2023. In 2023 alone, there were around 19,400 strikes at 713 US airports.
Additionally, between 1990 and 2023, US-registered airplanes reported more than 5,000 wildlife strikes at foreign airports, with 236 strikes at 92 airports in 55 countries in 2023 alone.
The FAA and USDA have made efforts over the years to not only understand the nature of this problem but also do research to mitigate the risk in and around airports. To quote the official FAA website, Wildlife hazard mitigation is a broad discipline incorporating aspects of one or more of four research areas:
– Habitat management
– Wildlife dispersal, removal, and exclusion
– Detection/prediction of wildlife movements and behavior so that aircraft can avoid high-risk activities, both temporally and spatially
– Enhanced aircraft detection and avoidance by birds through novel aircraft lighting schemes.
The latest United Airlines incident is one of many that have occurred in recent weeks and months. In March alone, several incidents were reported in the US. On March 22, a United Airlines Airbus A320-200, performing flight UA 671 from Denver International Airport (DEN) to Santa Barbara Municipal Airport (SBA), ingested 15 small birds upon landing.
On March 11, an Allegiant Air Airbus A320 bound for Flint Bishop Airport (FNT) in Michigan, suffered a bird strike shortly after takeoff. Thankfully, it made a safe landing.
The tragic Jeju Air crash in South Korea in December 2024 also involved a bird strike as there were bird feathers and blood stains were discovered in both engines. The plane attempted to land on its belly but crashed into the embankment at Muan International Airport.
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