First Bird Strike In Aviation History
The first reported bird strike was recorded in 1905 by none other than aviation pioneer Orville Wright. According to his diaries, Orville was conducting a practice flight that lasted a little under five minutes total, during which time he covered 4,751 meters and completed four circles. During two of these laps, he used his aircraft to chase a flock of birds, killing one, which landed on the top surface of the plane until he was able to shake it off with a sharp turn.
Bird Strikes cause annual damages that have been estimated at $400 million within the United States of America alone and up to $1.2 billion to commercial aircraft worldwide.
Bird strikes happen most often during takeoff or landing, or during low altitude flight.However, bird strikes have also been reported at high altitudes, some as high as 6,000 m (20,000 ft) to 9,000 m (30,000 ft) above the ground.
