Birdstrikes - SAS Visual Analytics Data Source

This document provides an analysis of birdstrikes using SAS Visual Analytics. It explores different aspects such as species involved, top airline operators, sky conditions, and more. The analysis also includes insights on birdstrike occurrences and costs.

Running head: BIG DATA ANALYSIS ASSIGNMENT 1
BIRDSTRIKES - SAS Visual
Analytics Data Source
By (Name of Student)
(University/ Institution)
(Course Code)
(Date of Submission)
(Professor’s Name)

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 2
Table of Contents
Background Information...................................................................................................................................
Question 1:........................................................................................................................................................
Question 2: How many different species (distinct) have been involved in bird strikes?....................................
Question 3: Where the data has been recorded, what percentage of the time was the pilot warned of
birds or wildlife?................................................................................................................................................
Question 4: What are the top five airline/operators involved in bird strikes?...................................................
Question 5: What proportion (percentage) of bird strikes involved medium and large wildlife?......................
Question 7: Has a bird strike ever occurred whilst the aircraft was parked? If so, in how many
instances?..........................................................................................................................................................
Question 8: Is a bird strike more likely to happen when there is
no cloud as compared with
overcast
conditions?.........................................................................................................................................................
Question 9: In what precipitation conditions is a bird strike most likely to happen?.........................................
Question 10: Which species of wildlife had the largest total cost? How much was this?...........................
Question 11: For the most costly species of wildlife, which phase of flight was the most common for a
bird strike?.........................................................................................................................................................
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................................
References.........................................................................................................................................................
Cover Letter......................................................................................................................................................
REFLECTIONS...............................................................................................................................................
(Second Group Member).............................................................................................................................
(Third Group Member)...............................................................................................................................
(Fourth Group Member).............................................................................................................................

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Background Information
A bird strike is strictly defined as a collision between a bird and an aircraft which is in flight or on a
take-off or landing roll (Mohammed, et al 2013). The term is often expanded to cover other wildlife
strikes including bats or ground animals. Bird Strike is common and can be a significant threat to
aircraft safety. Bird strikes have not only been a safety concern to civil aviation but also to and
military aircrafts. Bird strikes happen when aircraft are close to the ground. The front facing
components of an aircraft which include the nacelles, windshield, wind leading edge, compressor
blade, etc. are often most susceptible to such strikes (Storace et al., 2018). It is therefore critical to
ensure that the different structural parts are able to withstand such high velocity impact. Moreover,
they should also be in a position to guarantee the safe landing of the aircraft after the strike.
Confirmation gauges, which incorporate checking the basic uprightness of airframes and
motors, are built up by U.S. Government Aviation organization (FAA) and European Joint Aviation
Authority (JAA) (Storace, et al, 2018). These experimental confirmations, which result in the harm of
models and the organic peril of utilizing genuine fowls, can be exorbitant and tedious. The utilization
of PC reenactment to mimic the feathered creature sway on new basic segments fills in as an amazing
asset for the improvement of new parts by limiting the quantity of experimental testing (Storace, et al,
2018). It permits the effect reaction of various basic and material parameters to be examined before
the genuine creation of the models, along these lines decreasing time and cost brought about in
experimental testing.
Impact among air ship and winged animal has been a worry since they undermine the security
of the general population on board the air ship, results in exorbitant fixes and on account of business
air ship, a misfortune in income. It is a danger that takes steps to debilitate the open confidences

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 4
towards the avionics enterprises (Mohammed, et al 2013). Global boards of trustees, for example, the
International winged animal strike panel, the U.S and Italian flying creature strike advisory group, and
so on., have been framed to counter the danger presented by flying creature strikes, to more readily
comprehend the idea of strikes and to execute measures to avoid such strikes (Mohammed, et al
2013).
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is a legislative body of the United States with
forces to manage all parts of common avionics in that country just as over its encompassing global
waters. Its forces incorporate the development and task of airplane terminals, air traffic the executives,
the affirmation of work force and flying machine, and the assurance of U.S. resources amid the
dispatch or reentry of business space vehicles. Controls over neighboring universal waters were
designated to the FAA by power of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
Formed in August 1958, the FAA supplanted the previous Civil Aeronautics Administration
(CAA) and later turned into an office inside the US Department of Transportation. By giving access to
open, the mission of Government is to improve city administrations, activities and bolster
straightforwardness and responsibility.
Research on Measures Taken to Reduce Bird Strikes
 Some airports are trying fields of prairie grass to deter birds from the area. There is no place to
eat, nest, or rest so they continue on to another area (Houston, 2016)
 Several airports have introduced bees as a method of keeping large birds away (Houston,
2016)
 Carla J. Dove is helping to improve aviation safety by identifying species of bird remains from
bird strikes (Tedeschi, 2017)

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 There are some organizations and even groups of civilians who use culling to rid a known
species of bird or problem area of the risk of causing bird strikes. This is done both legally and
illegally

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TASK 2
Reporting / Dashboards & Research/18 Questions
Phase of Flight
Observation
Bird strikes may occur during any phase of flight but are most likely during the take-off, initial climb,
approach and landing phases due to the greater numbers of birds fly at lower levels.
Origin of State Verses Sky Condition
Observation:

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By comparing the origin of state and the condition of the sky, it can be noted that the California state
had the highest frequency followed closely be the Texas while Florida State on the other had the least
frequency.
Observation

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 8
The above histogram suggests the sky condition for the bird strike incidences. It can be seen that most
of the bird strikes and prone during no cloud while least when there exist some clouds.
Struck % According to Sky Conditions in Different States
California Texas Texas Texas California California Texas Texas
No Cloud Some Cloud No Clouds Overcast Some Clouds
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
30.89
24.59
10.83
0.21 0.73
8.21 8.09
0.22
S t ru ck % Acc o rd in g t o S k y Co n d iti o n s in Diff eren t S t at es
Observation
California State had the highest stuck percentage of about 30.89 which can be said to be as a result of
no cloud sky condition while Texas State with some cloud had the lowest stuck frequency.

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Top Airlines and their Costs
Observation

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By basing on the top airlines small size has the highest stuck frequency while large sized lowest
frequency.
On the airline cost, business Airlines produces the highest cost followed by the United Airlines
Question 1:
Done on SAS Dashboard !
Question 2: How many different species (distinct) have been involved in
bird strikes?

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Explanation
Based on the Teradata analysis of our bird strike data, there are a total of 602 distinct species involved
in bird strike. The table above shows the number.
Question 3: Where the data has been recorded, what percentage of the
time was the pilot warned of birds or wildlife?
Question 4: What are the top five airline/operators involved in bird strikes?

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Explanation
In regard to the airline operators involved, the following are top five;
1. Military
2. United Airlines
3. Southwest Airlines
4. Business
5. Fedex Express

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Question 5: What proportion (percentage) of bird strikes involved medium
and large wildlife?
Explanation
By reference to the above graphs, the percentage of bird strike involving medium and large wildlife is
38.24% and 6.38 % respectively.
Question 6: In which phase of flight would the aircraft be most likely to experience a bird strike?

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 14
Explanation
By considering the phase of the bird strike, it is evident based on the analysis that most of bird strike
are prone at the time when the aircraft is approaching and during take-off-run. When aircraft parked
on the other side, no incidence of bird strike is recorded.
Question 7: Has a bird strike ever occurred whilst the aircraft was parked? If so, in how many
instances?

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Explanation
According to the above histogram, it can conclude that not bird strike has ever occurred whilst the
aircraft was parked. The percentage and frequency of the occurrence is 0.
Question 8: Is a bird strike more likely to happen when there is
no cloud as
compared with
overcast conditions?

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 16
Explanation
By comparing the number/frequency of bird strike due to no cloud and overcast condition, the
histogram above suggests that most of the bird strike are prone when no cloud while least when
overcast.
Question 9: In what precipitation conditions is a bird strike most likely to happen?
Explanation
Based on the analysis, the histogram above shows that bird strike does not follow any form of
precipitation. It is in fact none. This implies that bird strike can happen during any weather condition.
Question 10: Which species of wildlife had the largest total cost? How much was this?

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 17
Explanation
As per the above analysis, gulls and mourning dove indicates highest total costs. The Barn swallow
species had the least total cost.
Question 11: For the most costly species of wildlife, which phase of flight was the most common for
a bird strike?

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 18
Explanation
Bird strikes may occur during any phase of flight but are most likely during the take-off, initial climb,
approach and landing phases due to the greater numbers of birds fly at lower levels.
Question 12: For the species
Bald Eagle and
Canadian goose, examine the
time of day that bird strikes occur to see if there are any differences
between the two species. Hint: you will need to use a filter on the species
of wildlife and also use two categories.

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 19
Explanation
By analyzing the time of the two species of the bird to examine the time of day that bird strikes occur
to see if there are any differences between the two species, it can be seen that most of the strikes occur
during day time. Also, there exist more of the strikes due the Canadian goose at night than the bald
eagle.
Question 13: Investigate using a
crosstab for the data values
Pilot warned
of bird strike,
Altitude bin, and
the total cost.

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 20
Explanation
The figure above shows the crosstab for the data values Pilot warned of bird strike, Altitude bin, and
the total cost. Based on the results, when the pilot is warned about the bird strike, the total cost is less
as compared to when the pilot is not warned. For all the cases, the altitude bin on the other side is
constant.
Question 14: Create a Geomap of the bird strike data.
Explanation
Although there are more strikes on a cluster of eastern states, the cost is relatively smaller than other
states

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 21
This visualization starts with California as being the state with the highest cost and goes in descending
order
Size of state does not affect cost
The states known to attract more tourists appear to have more cost from bird strikes
Question 15: Using the sum of the number of records, investigate the bird
strike count by airport. Hint: remove any missing data and use a sort.
Explanation
The bird strike count by airport is as shown in the above screen shot table. According to the analysis,
ADAMS FIELD AIRPORT records the highest number of the birds strike while ALBUQUEROUE
INTL recorded the least number of bird strike of between 2 to 10.

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 22
Question 16: Investigate the bird strike cost by airport. Hint: remove any
missing data and use a sort on the cost.
Explanation
LABUARDIANY airport records the highest cost of bird strike while JAMES M COX DAYT records
the least cost due to bird strike.
Question 17: Compare the answers of the two questions above. What does this indicate?
Explanation

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 23
By comparing the answers of the two questions above, I can be asserted that the total costs due to less
wildlife number records the highest total costs due to bird strike.
Question 18: Perform a cluster analysis on the two variables
time out of
service and
total cost. Use the cluster matrix graph to describe how the
four clusters differ from one another in terms of the two variables used.
Explanation
By performing a cluster analysis on the two variables time out of service and total cost, it can be
concluded that cost aircraft time out of service (in hours) cluster is much differently spread as
compared to the clustering due to the total cost.
Conclusion
Bird strikes are serious problems facing the aviation industry globally and therefore have become a
concern to flight safety, people and aircraft. Bird strikes are one of the causes of aircraft crushes and

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 24
thus have resulted in loss of revenue. More than 200 people have been killed between 2019 and 2019.
More than 5,000 bird strikes were reported by the U.S. Currently, there is enough data on bird strikes
that before therefore it is the time to test the avoiding solutions and see what work the best.
Some of the proposed recommendations based on findings are:
Airport authorities should also be extremely vigilant if birds are reported on final approach. If birds
are expected on final approach, plan additional landing distance to account for the possibility of no
thrust reverser use if a bird strike occurs. On the other hand, airports should also consider using
pyrotechnics.
Birds distress signals can also be used to alert the airports authorities on the potential occurrence of
bird strikes and this will enable them develop strategies for mitigating the incidence. It is also
important for the airport authorities to reduce or eliminate vegetation that attracts birds near the
runway of the airport.

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 25
References
Administration, U. (2017). Federal Aviation Administration. [Online] U.S. Fire
Administration. Available at: https://apps.usfa.fema.gov/firefighter-fatalities[Accessed 23
May, 2019].
Alexandar, F. (2017). Four Ways to Create Dashboards with Watson Analytics. IBM
Analytics Communities. Retrieved 24 May 2019, from
Cherny, M. A. (2014). I Went On a Police Ride-Along in San Francisco's Worst
Cotgreave, A., 6 Best Practices for Creating Effective Dashboards.
Data Visualisation & Content Marketing Analytics — Data labs. (2019). 15 Most Common
Few Stephen (2013) Information Dashboard Design. Displaying data for at-a-glance monitoring
IBM, IBM Watson Analytics. Available at:
http://www.ibm.com/analytics/watsonanalytics/ [Accessed 23 May. 2019].
http://www.datalabsagency.com/data-visualization-news/15-most-common-types-ofdata-
visualisation/ [Accessed 23 May. 2019].
https://datasf.org/about/
https://www.census.gov/

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 26
https://www.ibm.com/communities/analytics/watson-analytics-blog/watson-analyticsuse-
case-4-ways-to-create-dashboards/
https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/av4vyg/i-went-on-a-police-ride-along-in-
sanfranciscos-worst-neighborhood
Mohammed, A., Mohammad, A., Mamdoh, A., Abdul K, Faisal, A. (2013). Bird Strike Analysis.
Tableau- Bird Strikes data.
Neighbourhood. Retrieved 24 May 2019, from
NSW, F. (2017). Building Fire Safety. [Online] Fire.nsw.gov.au. Available at:
https://www.fire.nsw.gov.au/page.php?id=9140 [Accessed 23 May. 2019]
Roger, N. (2009). Strategies for prevention of bird strikes events.
Journal of Air Craft
San Francisco Fire Department (23 May. 2019). Retrieved from
Sas.com. (2017). Data Visualization: What it is and why it matters. [Online] Available at:
https://www.sas.com/en_au/insights/big-data/data-visualization.html [Accessed 23 May.
2019].
Sf-fire.org. (2017). Neighbourhood Emergency Response Team (NERT) | Fire Department.
Storace, A.F. Nimmer, R.P. & Ravenhall, R. (2018) Analytical and Experimental investigation of
bird impact on fan and compressor blading. Journal of Air Craft,
Types of Data Visualisation — Data labs. [Online] Available at:
United States Census Bureau. (Accessed 23 May, 2019). Retrieved from

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 27
Cover Letter
24/05/2019
Mr. Daniel K. Elwell,
CEO and Middle Management of the Federal Aviation Administration
Dear Sir:
Improve Operations and Services, using Modern Data Analysis & Visualization tool.
This report is prepared by Big Data and Analytics team and it is part of the research conducted to
analyze the data sets and discover patterns in dashboards which can help the Federal Aviation
Administration and the Management in overall to improve the services and operations provided
by the organization. The data analysis was performed using IBM Watson Analytics which
revealed the following insights.
Key Findings
• There were many incidences of birds strikes over span of four years
• Bird strike incidence has claimed the life of approximately over 500 people.
• Bird strikes have played a significant role in major accidents in the aviation industry
globally
• More than 5,000 bird strikes were reported which have led to asset aircraft damage cost of
approximately $600 million a year.

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 28
• The most challenging part in these incidences of bird strikes is that there is nothing that
can be done to keep away the birds from the flight path.
To achieve strategic objectives that you have set for you company, we would like to recommend
some actions based on the important data insights we have gathered regarding the analysis.
Recommendations:
• Dataset was inconsistent and on some occasions not standardised therefore, we
recommend employees use cautious approach while capturing the data and ascertain data
standardisation.
• By using the findings, aviation authorities can improve bird strike hazard mitigation
strategies, flight crews can reduce the potential of bird strikes resulting in engine failure,
and researchers can better understand the nature of bird strikes and develop a scientific
approach to minimize the likelihood of engine failure in the event of a bird strike.
• To prevent or reduce the consequences of a bird strike, the flight crew should: Discuss
bird strikes during take-off and approach briefings when operating at airports with known
or suspected bird activity.
• Airport authorities should also be extremely vigilant if birds are reported on final
approach. If birds are expected on final approach, plan additional landing distance to
account for the possibility of no thrust reverser use if a bird strike occurs.
• On the other hand, airports should also consider using pyrotechnics
• Birds distress signals can also be used to alert the airports authorities on the potential
occurrence of bird strikes and this will enable them develop strategies for mitigating the
incidence.

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 29
• It is also important for the airport authorities to reduce or eliminate vegetation that attracts
birds near the runway of the airport.
Sincerely,
(Your Name)
REFLECTIONS
First Group Member
Challenges:
Through the course of completion of report, we as team faced several challenges, one of the
challenge was how must we allocate the assignment tasks amongst ourselves since there were 18
basic questions, background information, dashboards, research, a cover letter, and
recommendations.
Another challenge we faced was data pre-processing/cleaning. Some of the questions such as
question 11, and question 13 required creation of some new fields in the data. Initially, there
were two sets of data and the trial-version of SAS did not allow compilation of two datasets.
To perform the analytics, Statistical Analytics System was used. It took me a while to get
familiarized with the Watson environment since the learning curve was rather extensive.

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 30
Learning:
This task was a profound learning experience for me in terms of academic group writing which
focused on gathering insights from the data, patterns and trends detection from dataset. These
traits are the essence of Big Data and Analytics. When as team, we delivered a presentation on
our findings and results of data analysis, it enhanced public speaking skills. Specially whilst
taking questions from the audience, my knowledge about the work I have accomplished was
tested and consequently reinforced. Another important aspect is that I learnt the
formality/protocol of doing certain things when writing a report.
CONTRIBUTIONS
I was accountable for creating dashboards, and its conforming research material, and
recommendations relating to questions 6-11. I was also accountable for writing the cover letter to
the Chief Executive Officer and middle management of the Federal Aviation Administration. For
the task of oral presentation, I presented the findings of questions 6-11, and the key results.
(Second Group Member)
The progress of the report required various meetings and discussions for resolving the issues and
challenges which came across while creating the report. The challenges started with the division
of the total work in the team, so that no one get more burden. Even after dividing the work into
three segments challenges continued to develop. For my segment, that encompassed questions
from 12 to 18, I faced the challenge of cleaning the raw data, as for most of my questions there

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 31
was need to create a new column named as Dispatched time. Other challenges include getting
adapted to Watson analytics to create the dashboards and undergo the research to conclude the
outcomes.
After overcoming all the hurdles, the learning experience was virtuous. It gave the small insight
of the analytics being performed in big data. The report enhanced my writing skills too and
helped in understanding the importance of various visualisation techniques to create an effective
dashboard. While delivering the presentation about this report, it enhanced our team’s public
speaking skills and assisted us to get response from the audience about the research and work
completed by our team for this report. Finally, it amended my understanding about Watson
Analytics.
My contribution for the report included to create dashboards and write the related research and
recommendations part for the questions. It also comprised cleaning the dataset to achieve the
desirable results. Other contribution encompassed of creating the basic structure of the report,
including table of contents, cover page and formatting.
(Third Group Member)
The completion of report initiated with some planning and discussion. Various meet ups were
arranged to discuss the requirements of assignment and presentation. During the early stage, we
got our hands-on SAS to get some familiarity. Watson user manual ‘Getting started with Watson
Analytics’ along with lab exercises and other practice datasets were very helpful to get thorough
understanding of this tool.

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 32
After getting some expertise in using Watson, assignment requirements were looked at.
All the questions were equally distributed, and I was responsible for writing abstract, background
research about the FAA and SAS, Question 1 to Question 5 with their findings in a dashboard,
conclusion and finally Power Point Presentation. During this report finalisation, we encountered
few challenges one of which was data cleansing as trial-version of SAS did not allow
compilation of two datasets and we were provided later with one cleansed dataset by the lecturer.
Another challenge was finding a suitable time where all the members are present to discuss
issues and track progress of report, due to work commitments.
Learning experience was quite rich during report completion. First, we got some expert
level understanding of the SAS and produced quality visualisations which gave key insights,
trends and patterns in dataset which is one of outcomes of this course. Secondly, presenting our
work in front of class mates was great as it enhanced our public speaking skills and boosted our
confidence to take questions about our work. Working in a team is another learning objective
which was achieved during this journey and is essential in workspace as it allows different
members to contribute in given project based on varying skills and strengths.
(Fourth Group Member)
After getting some expertise in using SAS, assignment requirements were looked at. All the
questions were equally distributed, and I was responsible for writing abstract, background
research about the FAA and SAS, Question 1 to Question 5 with their findings in a dashboard,
conclusion and finally Power Point Presentation. During this report finalisation, we encountered
few challenges one of which was data cleansing as SAS did not allow compilation of two

BIG DATA ANALYSIS GROUP ASSIGNMENT 33
datasets and we were provided later with one cleansed dataset by the lecturer. Another challenge
was finding a suitable time where all the members are present to discuss issues and track
progress of report, due to work commitments.
Learning experience was quite rich during report completion. First, we got some expert level
understanding of the SAS enterprise and produced quality visualisations which gave key
insights, trends and patterns in dataset which is one of outcomes of this course. Secondly,
presenting our work in front of class mates was great as it enhanced our public speaking skills
and boosted our confidence to take questions about our work. Working in a team is another
learning objective which was achieved during this journey and is essential in workspace as it
allows different members to contribute in given project based on varying skills and strengths.
The completion of report initiated with some planning and discussion. Various meet ups were
arranged to discuss the requirements of assignment and presentation. During the early stage, we
got our hands-on SAS to get some familiarity. Watson user manual ‘Getting started with Watson
Analytics’ along with lab exercises and other practice datasets were very helpful to get thorough
understanding of this tool.