Oi L-1329

[bikehorn]

How often do you find birds get sucked into an engine? I was on a flight to Frankfurt just a few days ago and a bird got sucked into an engine of the A340 I was in as we were descending...right in front of me as I watched. Kind of crazy. Must be a maintenance headache, my uncle is a retired Airbus mechanic and told me all kinds of stories about birds getting mashed up in a turbine.

[L-1329]

I happens, but so far I've yet to get one go through an engine. I have bounced a lot of them off the airframe though. I got SUPER lucky this past summer though, we were landing and just as we touched down a flock of birds that covered near the whole airport, that were resting in the grass, took off and swarmed over most of the runway. The whole airport was a massive flock of small birds, and we went straight into it on the brakes. I have no idea how but we missed every one of them, and by all means should have smashed into hundreds. Luck of the draw.

 

Oh, and as for engines the bigger they are the better the odds of getting a bird. Our little jets don't get as many as airliners, but it happens occasionally. There are maintenence inspections to do if it happens. I have heard extreme stories of planes hitting flocks of birds right after takeoff and flaming out some or all engines. Again though, that rarely happens. One bird isn't usually going to do much.