The heroic efforts of Capital Chesley Sullenberger--whose skill in landing US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River--are unprecedented. However, birds colliding with airplanes is not uncommon.
The following is an excerpt from The Power of Incremental Advantage: How Incremental Improvements Produce Dramatically Disproportionate Results:
A 6 pound bird that collides with a plane’s propeller or windshield can cause a $60 million airplane to crash. When a plane is traveling at 560 miles per hour, a bird hits with an impact of about 25 tons. When a plane is flying at 620 miles per hour, a 6.6 pound bird hits with a force of about 40 tons.
Between 1963 and 1993, bird hits have killed 41 pilots and caused more than 130 fighter aircraft from 10 Western air forces to crash, and those numbers are only from nations that supply statistics. The yearly damage to the world's civilian and military aviation from birds is estimated at billions of dollars. One notable military bird strike occurred in the United States in 1987. A Boeing AWACS meant to serve as a secret flying command post for the President in the event of nuclear war collided with a flock of about 40 snow geese shortly after takeoff from its base in Nebraska. Two of the plane's four engines shut down after some of the geese were sucked in. The plane's nose cover also split, and both wings suffered serious damage. The aircraft returned immediately to base, where it crash-landed.
Birds have downed more Israeli fighter planes than the combined might of enemy pilots or missiles. Between 1972 and 1993, there were 1,282 "bird hits" with Israeli fighter jets, 696 with helicopters and 637 with transport planes and light aircraft. Interestingly, every spring and fall more than half a billion birds from three continents funnel across Israel. During migration seasons, Israel has the highest concentration of birds per square kilometer of any country in the world. It also has the world's greatest concentration of fighter aircraft.
