U.S. wildlife strikes by phase of flight

Abstract

Aircraft collisions with birds and other wildlife are of increasing concern to the aviation industry. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) developed the National Wildlife Strike Database to better define the wildlife strike problem. The purpose of this study was to determine the difference in the annual wildlife strike reports by phase of flight in the United States of America from 2010 to 2019. The phases of flight were categorized as found in the FAA Wildlife Strike Database: take-off run, landing roll, departure, arrival, climb, descent, en route, local, taxi, parked, and approach. We excluded reports with an unknown phase of flight from the study. This information provides airports with an objective baseline to aid in the evaluation of wildlife risk mitigation programs. The analysis showed a significant difference in annual wildlife strike reports by phase of flight. Approach had the highest mean number of wildlife strikes, whereas parked had the lowest mean number of strikes.