Bird Strike Data and Analysis

This presentation provides an in-depth analysis of bird strikes in the aviation industry. It covers the history of bird strikes, cost of bird strikes in different states, top airlines involved in bird strikes, species and time of day most likely to be struck, and measures taken to reduce bird strikes. The presentation also includes visualizations and data on the cost, time, species, and phase of flight involved in bird strikes.

BIRD STRIKE DATA AND ANALYSIS
FRANKIE JO O’LEARY, 6/30/2017
CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY – ST. PAUL, BUS388 – ANALYTICS AND TECHNOLOGY

FINDING -1
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.

HISTORY OF BIRD STRIKES
 The first bird-aircraft collision (later referred to as a bird strike) was recorded in 1905,
starting the history of bird strikes (Dolbeer, n.d.)
 Bird strikes cost the aviation industry $900 million per year (Houston, 2016)
 The most fatal bird strike in history was Eastern Airlines 375, which crashed and suffered
62 fatalities (Houston, 2016)
 US military aircraft had about 5,000 bird strikes in 2016 (Tedeschi, 2017)
 According to the FAA, there have been 25 human fatalities between 1990 and 2013,
attributed to wildlife strikes with US civil aircraft, and they do not consider this result to be
a common occurrence for bird strike effects

FINDING ACCORDING TO ORIGIN STATES VS SKY CONDITIONS
Cost of Bird Strikes
 There is a cost range from $0 to nearly
$50 million
 The point of this data is to tell people how
much bird and wildlife strikes are costing
each state
 Some states like California and New York
have an excessive overall cost due to strikes
on their planes
 Northwestern states like Wyoming, Montana,
and Idaho have little to no cost
Tableau Visual

TOP AIRLINES AND THEIR COST (WARNING ALTITUDE
BIN)
Speed of Airplanes
 There is a wide range of the average
speed of planes that are struck as well as
the cost
 This visual is showing the average speed of
planes when struck by a bird or other wildlife
in various states
 The highest speed is in Louisiana at 358.4
knots
 There does not appear to be a correlation
between cost and speed of the plane at
impact
Visual

WHERE THE DATA HAS BEEN RECORDED, PERCENTAGE OF
THE TIME & PILOT WARNED OF BIRDS OR WILDLIFE?
Make/Model of Plane
 The results of cost are different when
figuring the make and model of the plane
 This visual shows the make and model of
each plane, the average cost, and the
average speed of plane
 The unknown data increases when factoring
in the make and model of the plane
 There is a clear correlation between the
average speed and make and model of the
plane. The bigger the plane, the higher the
cost
T Visual

THE TOP FIVE AIRLINE/OPERATORS INVOLVED IN BIRD
STRIKES
What Time Is It?
 Some species are far more likely to be
struck than others
 This visual tells the time of day that each
species was struck and how much it cost
 Canada geese cause more damage than any
other species and are struck most often
during the day
 There is a more rare occurrence with the
Philippine Duck because unlike most species
they are more likely to be struck at night
Tableau Visual

BIRD STRIKE VISUALS
Cost and Time
 This visual is an example of making data
more confusing and hard to see accurate
results
 The larger the bubble to the more cost that
the species causes in damage
 The different colored bubbles represent time
of day, and daytime is the most common
time for a bird strike
Tableau Visual

GEOMAP OF THE BIRD STRIKE DATA
Cost and Time
 According to this visual the cost of the
Canadian Goose is extremely high when
struck during the day
 This is the same data as Exhibit 5 but
presented in a more organized and readable
fashion
 Random species helps to see the cost vs
species and time of day without having too
much information
 Some species cause the same amount of
damage regardless of time of day, while the
Canadian Goose is more than twice the cost
when hit during the day
Tableau Visual

THE MOST COSTLY SPECIES OF WILDLIFE, WHICH
PHASE OF FLIGHT WAS THE MOST COMMON FOR A
BIRD STRIKE
Human Fatalities
 It does not take an entire flock of birds
striking an airplane to cause catastrophic
damage
 This data tells us how many birds were
struck and how man human fatalities there
were as a result
 There are twice as many fatalities caused
with just one bird strike than striking 2-10
birds
 One bird must be a lot harder to see and
avoid than when there are many
Tableau Visual

PHASE OF FLIGHT WOULD THE AIRCRAFT BE MOST
LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE A BIRD STRIKE
People Injured
 The Canadian Goose is responsible for a
lot of injuries
 This data shows the time of day, the species
of bird struck, and how many people were
injured as a result
 Some species do not cause injuries to
people when a plane strikes one
 The larger birds definitely are responsible for
more people getting hurt than the smaller
species
Tableau Visual

BIRD STRIKE VISUALS
Phase of Flight
 This data shows that being parked is the least
likely time to have a bird strike, but it still
happens
 This data tells us at what point during the flight a
bird or birds is struck in each state
 For the most part, it is farely even odds for what
part of the flight a bird strike happens and how
many are hit. Pretty much the entire flight has
danger for a bird strike
 There is more concentration of bird strikes on the
East Coast states
Tableau Visual

BIRD STRIKE VISUALS
Cost by State
 Although there are more strikes on a
cluster of eastern states, the cost is
relatively smaller than other states
 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
Tableau Visual

RESEARCH ON MEASURES TAKEN TO REDUCE BIRD STRIKES
 Every airport in the US, and many more across the world, use pyrotechnics daily to drive
the birds away (Geohegan, 2013)
 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)
 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

REFERENCES
 Dolbeer, R. A. The History of Wildlife Strikes and Management at Airports. n.d. Retrieved from:
https://www.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/nwrc/publications/13pubs/dolbeer131.pdf
 Geohegan, T. 10 Ways to Prevent Plane Bird Strikes. 2013. Retrieved from:
http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine- 24751208
 Haines, G. Sully: Miracle on the Hudson was extraordinary - but how dangerous is a bird
strike?. 2016. Retrieved from:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travel-truths/how-dangerous-is-a-bird-strike/
 Houston, S. Facts About Aircraft Bird Strikes. 2016. Retrieved from:
https://www.thebalance.com/facts-about-aircraft- bird-strikes-282767
 Tedeschi, D. When Birds Hit Aircraft 2017. Retrieved from:
http://www.airspacemag.com/as-interview/carla-j-dove- 180963199/