Aircraft bird strikes are common, usually not dangerous

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Florida. A JetBlue plane made an emergency landing from Palm Beach International Airport to New York on Sunday due to a bird strike.

The video shows a falling bird after colliding with a JetBlue aircraft shortly after takeoff.

The man who shot him near the PBI runway claims to have heard a loud bang.

Fearing engine damage, the pilot made an emergency landing, but PBIA passengers who knew about the incident over the weekend say they are not worried about bird strikes.

“Not really,” said Elissa Bernier of Vero Beach. “I do not even think about it. I do not even think about it”.

“Usually, when I get on a plane, I have headphones on, I’m talking on the phone or watching a movie and just waiting until I get to my destination,” added passenger Mark Hughes, who flew in from Boston.

“Bird strikes will happen,” said David Biellos, a corporate pilot and former airline pilot from Lake Worth Beach, who says he has had several bird strikes.

Over the past decade, there have been 332 bird strikes on flights to and from PBIA, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Last year, there were 26 incidents, 15 of which involved airline aircraft.

“I hit a lot of birds and didn’t even know it,” Biellos said. “I only found out about it after the flight ended and I saw blood on the wing or blood on the tail.”

Airports can do very little to keep the birds away, Biellos said.

Birds are attracted to grassy areas and water bodies.

And airports can’t do anything about birds in parks and neighborhoods outside the airport.

JetBlue is still collecting information about Flight 62 bound for LaGuardia Airport in New York.

It happened on the 14th^th anniversary of the Miracle on the Hudson in New York.

It was then that a US Air flight took off from LaGuardia when several Canadian geese became stuck in all engines, forcing the plane to land in the river.

The crew and all 155 passengers were rescued.

David Biellos says the incident and this weekend’s crash landing and bird strikes are no match for well-built jetliners and their well-trained pilots.

“By law, we are required to demonstrate skill when the aircraft fails at the most critical moment, that is, right at takeoff,” Biellos said.

According to the FAA, 97% of bird strikes occur shortly before takeoff or landing.

The agency says the speed of the aircraft and the size of the bird are major factors in determining whether a strike causes enough damage to force an emergency landing.