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Dwarfed by the jetliner, they look little more than a smattering of black dots.
But this flock of birds could have brought the plane crashing down in seconds.
They flew straight into the path of the Germania airlines flight to Kosovo as it took off from Dusseldorf airport with 80 on board.
‘The pitch of the engine said it all,’ said plane-spotter Juergen Kienast, who took these dramatic pictures.
‘It was like sticking a bit of metal pipe into a blender.’
Once airborne, the pilot reported engine damage and circled for almost 45 minutes before landing safely.
I wonder how they counted them?
Starlings… the perfect choice for the next video on “Will It Blend?” by Blendtec
Cooking in the hot exhaust, the passengers were treated to an airport barbecue that Germania is famous for …
I think they count the number of wings left on the runway, and then divide by two?
Oh, the humanity!
I hate how its reported as “the birds got in our way”. You’d think with all our technology we could have some sort of “radar” on the planes that can see the birds, and some sort of flashing light/sound that would scare them AWAY from the plane? Its a risk to the plane as well. I’ve looked up images of birdstrike before, birds have gone through into the cockpit before.
Just to remind you Im an animal rights nutjob, the birds were here first too!
Sheesh, starlings! I mean, I love watching them fly because they move together in large numbers like fish in schools. But that’s it, let’s face it, they’re ugly, noisy, lice ridden little shit machines. If you’re unfortunate enough to park your car under a tree full of them, pray your wax is gonna hold out because these birds can really rain down some corrosive hell.
I’m glad for the people in that plane, dying for a flock of these would be a ridiculous death indeed. Isn’t it about time that those that design airplanes start working on a bird proof intake? Clever engineers ought to be able to solve such a small problem.
In nature the little stuff should have the brains to get out of the way of the big stuff. And humans are part of nature too so it is a matter of survival of the fittess.
It’s not like this is the first plane off that runway.
Imagine being the engine mechanic given that.
“…circled for almost 45 minutes before landing safely.”
I guess they couldn’t find a river to ditch into. Lousy pilots.
“some sort of flashing light/sound that would scare them AWAY from the plane” what about a freakin’ jumbo jet moving down the tarmac at full throttle?!
good grief i don’t get people sometimes. i say, “sorry about your luck you dumb birds.”
What really bothers me is this problem of sucking birds into the engine has been solved for decades.
The Russians fixed this problem by “A mesh screen over each intake prevents debris from being drawn into the engines during take-off.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_Su-27
Simple solution.
Before the Boeing/Airbus bashing starts, don’t forget that Boeing doesn’t actually make the engines for their planes. Usually it is GE or Rolls Royce.
Boeing’s customers buy the engines separately.
I don’t know what Airbus does. But I’d bet it is similar. Does anyone know?
“why not put some sort of screen over the intake so that birds can’t get in to muck things up?”
Cost/benefit trade-off. A screen strong enough to stop a 25 lb bird would be heavy, restrict airflow affecting engine efficiency, collect ice and so need anti-ice … and what if the screen broke? That may be worse than a bird
Ah Yea–that screen is described as used on take-off to prevent debris. Doesn’t say anything about birds after takeoff. Can’t find any details on it. Don’t ya think if it could be done, it would be?
Any russian pilots not afraid to spill the beans?
Damn. Those guys need to find a better hobby.
Wonder if they sent in for the bounty..
Bobbo, I think you are on the right track with the cost/benefit analysis scenario.
The russians used a titanium screen capable of blocking birds and pebbles, and it was apparently very effective.
But I’m sure it was costly, and I also bet that these screens would have to undergo a long and expensive FAA approval process.
And if it was approved, would the FAA require all jets in the US to install one, increasing it’s expense?
It might be less costly to let a plane or two crash, now and again.
#16–Ah Yea==How to tell you are talking to an engineer: “You know, it would have been cheaper to let Al Quaida blow up a skyscraper every 10 years than to react the way we did.”
Think of the Children Ah Yea===the CHILDREN!!!!
They need to build an engine that uses the birds as fuel. Problem solved.
I am submitting the patent now.
I am going to be rich, filthy rich. Ha Ha Ha He He, filthy rich I tell you. Nothing can stop me now.
I am laughing on my way to the bank, singing my filthy rich songs.
Why are those people in white coats and big nets following me??
It’s really simple to count them–when each enters the plane they hand over a boarding pass which are electronically counted. Then add the crew, this is often Pilot, Co-pilot, and three flight attendants. So, that must be 75 passengers and 5 crew. What’s so difficult about that, hhopper?
They already have ways of making sure birds are kept away from airports. They fly birds of prey like falcons and use other methods. I’m curious to know what happened in this case and how such a large flock managed to go undetected.
There is a lot of difference between the inlet of a jet intake on a fighter and the compressor on a high bypass turbofan.
The inlet flaps on a mig/su are only about a foot across and operate only on take off retracting into the inlets.
The fan on an A380/777 engine is almost 12″ in diameter – where is this going to retract into?
Also a jet fighter’s engines aren’t running flat out on most takeoffs, a commercial jet’s are. If you include the restriction of the screen you would have to increase the engine power considerably.
They contracted with Acorn to provide census services.
Stupid fucking birds
I agree with #22. A screen to cover the entire inlet on one turbofan would be over 100 square ft. And the grid small enough to prevent parts of the birds being sucked thru. This would be a HUGE hindrance on airflow, so the inlet would have to be even larger to allow the same amount of air thru.
And even with this, if you ran into a large flock of starlings like this incident, the birds would be kept against the screen (by the suction of the turbofan and the airflow from the plane’s movement) and clog it up. Now you have insufficient airflow to the engine at the plane’s most critical moment. Bad news.
#18 bobbo I think you are confusing engineer with cost accountant.
Dang, a couple hundred birds can ruin your whole day.
In theory a ramjet that could work at low speeds doesn’t need a turban which would allow you to avoid most of the damage but then ramjets don’t work at low speeds.
#28–do-ill==”in theory” a ramjet only works at HIGH speed. I think you “know” this but are so lazy with words/ideas you think you can just say anything you want to. Unlike things political, economic, social==science doesn’t work that way. So, theoretically speaking–at low speed how is the air compressed in your ram jet? ((Its called a ram jet instead of a slightly pushed jet for a reason.))
#22–Nobody==I think you have it. I recall that the compressor of a jet and a fan jet are exactly the same. The difference is a fan jet has “extended” compressor blades that are wrapped in the intake shroud. The same engine/compressor with another set of blades connected to it completely outside the engine is called a turboprop. 3 compressors and exhausts, basically the same engine, with 3 different compressor BLADE designs. Roughly.
I think we solved that engineering challenge.
amodedoma said,
“But that’s it, let’s face it, they’re ugly, noisy, lice ridden little shit machines.”
“Shit Machine” would be a good name for a rock band! (Joke ripped from Dave Barry.)
I read somewhere these are Old World birds brought here for some reason and now they’re a pest?
Sorry for the double post but-
“I agree with #22. A screen to cover the entire inlet on one turbofan would be over 100 square ft. And the grid small enough to prevent parts of the birds being sucked thru. This would be a HUGE hindrance on airflow, so the inlet would have to be even larger to allow the same amount of air thru.”
These great engines suck huge volumes of air. Could it be possible to redirect a small amount of this air pressure at takeoff to keep debris out? Keep birds and large debris out with redirected air pressure?