Animals vs. Aircraft

[flywithastick]

Strangest thing I've hit was a big bug at somewhere around 5000' agl. Made a annoying splatter on my windscreen. No wx or mountains nearby to carry it up there? Must have had a defective nav system. Anyone pick up bugs that high?

 

[Typhoon1244]

Strangest thing I've hit was a big bug at somewhere around 5000' agl. Anyone pick up bugs that high?

This is not a joke...I have a witness. In a CRJ, I hit a grasshopper at 15,000. My understanding is that they can ride thermals and drafts...or that they get sucked up by storm cells.

It was almost depressing. Here's this poor grasshopper in the middle of an Olympic-class hop...and I smashed him with my Canadair!

 

[Sierra-Hotel]

About two years ago a SW flight hit a deer on landing in BWI......not a lot of damage just blood and guts every where! The F/As on the continuing leg finally had something other that peanuts to serve!

 

[skyslug]

have hit bugs at a ridiculously high altitudes and they usually leave a splat the size of Montana directly in front of your face.

A friend had a skunk-strike here recently. MX had to clean it off the wing! We landed right after that happened, taxied in and though we had perhaps taken out Pepe LePew. Rather fragrant.

Have also had many lightening bugs inside the cockpit that started doing their lightening thing at FL200! Don't know how so many got in there but they sure were active. We thought we were seeing other aircraft that kept disappearing but found out a few minutes later that the lights were coming from these little creatures. Sparkled for quite a while!

 

[charley varrick]

I have personally hit several birds, but nothing too dramatic, thank goodness. On postflight once, I even found a bat (dead)lodged between the flaps. My biggest fear, however, at my previous employer was hitting a deer, etc. We had at least two aircraft decommisioned for a while after trying to merge with deer. One aircraft was forever known as the Deer Slayer. Not pretty.

About the craziest thing that happened was to a hapless SF-340 crew minding their own business on approach into Aberdeen, SD. On final they hit some sort of large fowl. The bird impacted the Captain's windshield with such force that, before evaporating, it tore the wiperblade off. The wiperblade then proceeded to fly expeditiously toward the number one engine and, upon contacting the prop, it was slung toward the kevlar-reinforced aluminum hull. After piercing the hull, it promptly found a new home in the thigh of a reluctant frequent flyer. I wasn't there, but I imagine that the cabin was filled with all sorts of hair-raising sounds at that moment. Pictures were very bloody as well. I always thought that that was a guy who deserved free travel for the rest of his natural life.

 

[flywithastick]

After piercing the hull, it promptly found a new home in the thigh of a reluctant frequent flyer. I always thought that that was a guy who deserved free travel for the rest of his natural life. [/B]

Nah. Just give him a few ticket vouchers and some wheel chair service for a while... It's not like he was profiled or discriminated against!

If there's a seat choice I'll move on past those in the prop arc, just for this reason. Though my concerns were more about being cut in half by a piece of a prop blade.

 

[Slug]

Another Deer

Had a friend out night flying in the T-38 traffic pattern at Columbus AFB, MS with a foreign student up front. About their third landing the IP in the back felt a thud but thought they had dropped it in from about a foot too high; no big deal. When he tries to retract the gear the left main won't come up all the way and then won't go down all the way. In the meantime all the other -38s are reporting dead animals on the runway. Airfield management finds a deer cut perfectly in half on the runway. After numerous tries the main finally comes down. The student never said anything, although he saw the deer because he couldn't think of the correct translation.

We stuffed and mounted both halves of the deer and put them on opposite sides of the wall entering the squadron bar. The four hooves were made into coat hangers. About 2 years later a farmer shows up at the squadron with the gear door for the left main that he found in a field under the traffic pattern.

 

[Jepp2Jet]

King Air 1 Goose 0

"Something went bump in the flight"

 

[501261]

The biggest D@mn buzzard I've ever seen in my life down in Merida, Mexico. His wingspan must have been about 8 feet long, could barely see the runway with this big ole Sombrero wearing thing trying to fly away from us. Amazingly enough no damage to the aircraft.

On another note, I had a road runner hop INTO our Lear in the boonies of Arizona. And let me tell you those d@mn road runners are mean SOB's. It took us about 30 minutes to "convince" this SOB to get out of the plane. In case you’re still thinking road runners are nice, cartoon animals, let me tell you they are very fast and have extremely sharp beaks and claws! If we had a video camera it would have won some money on "America's Funniest Home videos.” Plus, it took us about 2 weeks to get all the feathers finally out!
!"

 

[AK737FO]

Fun Thread

The first critter I hit was a suicidal lizard of some sort that ran out in front of me while I was in po-dunk New Mexico. The little guy ran right out and threw himself in front of a C-310 nose tire. Just a speed bump on the taxi.
Next up was a drake mallard on a night landing. I saw him in the landing lights and had a split second to duck (no pun intended). He hit the top of the windshield and then split himself on the rudder. No damage except a couple of lost heart beats.

My personal record was a flock of sandpipers on takeoff in Oregon. I aborted and took a look for damage. The old C-310 was covered in blood and feathers but no damage since they are little birds. We went out and cleaned up the mess on the runway. We counted feet and wings, divided by 4 and came up with about 20 birds KIA.

In Alaska I got to see a Piper T-1040 (a Ho with PT-6's) after it hit a cow moose with the left wing. The wing was trashed and the airplane never flew again since T-1040 parts are very hard to find. The guys flying that day were pretty shook up and used the crash axe to finish off the poor old moose...

 

[GumbyflysVipers]

Know of a F-16 landing at Kunsan "by the sea" Korea that took a pheasant strike on landing. The bird hit right at the main gear over center lock collapsing the gear resulting in loss of the AC. So if you ever get stationed at Kunsan, take your shotgun so you can be a member of the Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH) team and kill pheasants on the airfield and have a fine dinner.

 

[RJlifer]

"On another note, I had a road runner hop INTO our Lear in the boonies of Arizona. And let me tell you those d@mn road runners are mean SOB's. It took us about 30 minutes to "convince" this SOB to get out of the plane. In case you’re still thinking road runners are nice, cartoon animals, let me tell you they are very fast and have extremely sharp beaks and claws! If we had a video camera it would have won some money on "America's Funniest Home videos.” Plus, it took us about 2 weeks to get all the feathers finally out!"

Now THAT's FUNNY!! I can just envision what that scene must've been. Did you have any bigwigs standing by during the Road Runner Removal procedure??

 

[charley varrick]

501261 wrote:
On another note, I had a road runner hop INTO our Lear in the boonies of Arizona.

And that, my friend, is why I always keep an up-to-date ACME catalog in my flight bag!

 

[AlphEcho]

Insects at High Altitude

In response to flywithastick and Typhoon 1244 and their sightings of insects at abnormally high altitudes: I too have seen some while flying, but the weirdest thing regarding this phenomenon was when I was on the top of Mt. Rainier back in Washington 3 years ago. I was panting my way across the crater near the summit when I saw a brightly colored butterfly flutter nonchalantly in front of me! At first I thought the 14, 411 foot elevation was getting to me but my more experienced climbing buddy said that butterflies and other insects were not too uncommon that high as they hitch thermals up to the summit. As I continued to trudge on I couldn't help to think that his means of ascent was vastly preferrable to my own!

 

[katanabob]

One day while doing some hood work in preparation for my instrument ride, the safety pilot quipped, 'oh, man.. you gotta see this!' I quickly removed my foggles and looked outside, only to see what appeared to be...... a washing machine box at 4500 feet, almost directly above the VOR. I headed right for it and did an aerial turn about the box as we looked on in disbelief. I made a couple close passes and we could make out the 'Maytag' printed on a couple sides, though the box was spinning so fast that was all we could read. (I also did not want to have a midair with a box and have to explain that one, so I kept my distance)
I just want to know how the heck a cardboard box got all the way up there.