Bird Collisions More Common with Planes
01/15/09Mike Slack comments on US Airways Flight 1549 on KEYE 42, Austin’s CBS affiliate
KEYE CBS 42 Reporter: Gregg Watson
Federal experts tell CBS 42 News collisions between birds and planes are on the rise.
The population of our feathered friends is growing at the same time planes are being made quieter. That combination experts say is creating a scare in the sky.
From his office in Rollingwood, former NASA engineer and aviation expert Mike Slack sits with his remote control watching the horror on the Hudson. He says birds and planes on a collision course happens often.
“Bird strikes are actually fairly common,” said Slack. “What’s uncommon is seeing them take down a commercial airliner.”
Slack tells CBS 42 News birds are attracted to water, and he’s not surprised to hear it was flock of birds that reportedly disabled both of the planes engines.
“The bird crashes into the engine and those very fragile compressor blades on the jet engine then fracture,” said Slack.
The plane plunged into the Hudson where passengers say it floated 20 blocks before everyone was able to get out alive. Amazingly, the plane did not sink, and slack says it was built to not do that.
“It’s kind of like the bath tub toys,” said Slack. “As long as you can keep the water out of it it’s going to float. It is by its nature buoyant and it’s density is less than water so until water starts getting into the interior of the aircraft it’s going to stay afloat.”
Slack says besides the skills of the pilot - what saved the passengers from death was their ability to remain cool and calm. His law firm has studied hundreds of crashes and he says the best thing anyone can do in an emergency landing is not to panic.
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