Bird Strikes and Take-Off

[Muse84]

Hi Everyone,

Im fairly new to the board, and have been looking through all of the posts, which has helped greatly with my fear of flying. The information given out is invaluble and i would like to thank in advance everyone who contributes! :cheers:

I have what i would describe as a mild fear of flying but a big fear of Take-Off and i had a couple of questions that i would apreciate answering -

1) I watched a video of a thomosn 757 jet hitting a bird on takeoff which shut down his left engine. i was amazed how calm the pilots were (ATC audio was included in the video) they just climbed away and returned normaly to the airport. My question is if 1 bird can shut down an engine what would happen if a plane hit a few birds and both engines were hit? this is what goes through my mind on takeoff and it just petrfies me! do pilots have a procedure for a double strike on takeoff?

2) Just after taking off i get this feeling in my stomach like we are dropping. i understand that that cant really happen as momentum still aplies but can someone explain what causes this sinking feeling?

Again many thanks for all of your help :thumbsup:

[MathFox]

Hi Muse and :welcome2:

Pilots get the "one engine out" take off in their recurrent simulator training, they know exactly what to do and how to make a safe return to an airport. When a plane loses all engine power, there is nothing left for the pilots but gliding it to the best place to land (within reach). It is what Captain Sullenberger did when he ditched an A320 in the Hudson river.

Just after taking off i get this feeling in my stomach like we are dropping. i understand that that cant really happen as momentum still aplies but can someone explain what causes this sinking feeling?
It is standard procedure to reduce engine power once the plane is in the air, it gives the same feeling when you lift your foot from the accellerator in a car riding uphill.

[Falcon]

The chances of there being that many birds for a take off are low. All airports keep an eye out for large gatherings of birds and if needed they are scared off using fireworks, blanks etc. The automated weather frequency for airports will list birds in the area, all pilots know to look out and report flocks to the control tower.
The last time a saw a large flock was in Nice and we delayed our take off until the marshaler chased them off. Birds normaly scarper at the sound of aircraft engines anyway.

We are their alpha leader.

[Pilothelp]

I think you are worried because of what occured in new york, it is common for birds to get in the way at airports, thats why here at heathrow we have a team dedicated to scaring them away, A plane can usually survive a bird attack, it is rare birds are dumb enough to just stay infront of a moving plane,

[aerobat]

it is rare birds are dumb enough to just stay infront of a moving plane,

:rolleyes:

So maybe bird strikes are a good thing? Culls the herd? Eliminates the dumbest ones? You gotta be pulling our leg, lefty.

[Barb-SAN]

The chances of there being that many birds for a take off are low. All airports keep an eye out for large gatherings of birds and if needed they are scared off using fireworks, blanks etc. The automated weather frequency for airports will list birds in the area, all pilots know to look out and report flocks to the control tower.
The last time a saw a large flock was in Nice and we delayed our take off until the marshaler chased them off. Birds normaly scarper at the sound of aircraft engines anyway.

We are their alpha leader.
It looks like more "extreme" measures are happening in NYC
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/nyregion/13geese.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion
400 Park Geese Die, for Human Fliers’ Sake"
...“The thing to always remember in this New York situation is that we are talking about aviation and passenger and property safety,” she said. “In New York City, from 1981 to 1999, the population increase (of geese) was sevenfold.
The authorities have been thinning the region’s ranks of geese since some of them flew into the engines of US Airways Flight 1549 (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/a/airplane_accidents_and_incidents/us_airways_flight_1549/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier) in January 2009, forcing it to ditch in the Hudson River. Last summer, 1,235 were rounded up at 17 sites around the city and later killed. But the Prospect Park culling appears to be among the biggest, and its scope mortified some residents ...