JetBlue Emergency tonight

[Diesel]

Sorry wasn't a subtle dig at the aribuses tail at all. One of the emergencies we do in the sim for the 560 is a jamed rudder from a birdstrike. Makes the plane uncontroable at low speeds and it gets really bad. I guess it actually happened.

Remember a bird dives to the ground to get out of bad situations. It's better to go over it than under it.

 

[learjetguy]

Radar??

I once heard that an aircrafts' w/x radar can be used to scare birds away from the flight path of an aircraft. Anyone know if that is true?

Learguy

 

[Falconjet]

?

I've never heard of the radar scaring the birds away, but I would like to point out that the plural for Canada Goose is Canada Geese, not Canadian Geese. Having been born in Newfoundland and having been stationed with several Canadian Exchange Officers, I can say that they (Canadians) are awfully particular about that point!

I concur with the idea to declare the emergency and get the jet on deck and then worry about whether or not some forms need to be filled out or if I inconvenienced someone in the tower or ground crew.

In the Falcon we could 'usually' tell if the bird went into the engine from the smell, but not always. Flying low over the water most of my life left me with a healthy respect for the damage birds can do to an aircraft and/or its engines.

 

[jaxgus]

To Declare/Not Declare, That's the ????

Yes, Yes; it can be an emergency, but I would be reluctant to declare one if there were no engine, control or windscreen issues. Thanks all for the safety lecture...

Your welcome for the "safety lecture."

Hopefully, the posts made previous to this one demonstrate two things. 1) There is no shame in declaring an emergency. In fact, I applaud pilots who make the decision to declare when the safety of their aircraft is questioned. When declaring an emergency all you do is pre-position every assett available to assit recovering a potentially stricken aircraft.

"Shucks, we woke up the crash/rescue folks and they got to race there cool trucks around the airport and have a little fun." Seriously, what harm does it do? None, it provides a little special handling and gives a pilot every available option. I sure would hate looking back and saying I wish the rescue folks were sitting at the edge of the runway.

2) No flight manual will cover every situation encountered airborne, but it never hurts to let trained folks who repair/build these complex aircraft to take a look to ensure it is airworthy.

 

[LJDRVR]

"Scaring the birds away" is an old wives tale. With the wattage todays weather avoidance radar puts out, you're not even gonna sterilize the ramper. (I understand you MAY damage eye tissue in the retina.)

I can't give you the scientific specifics behind my assertion, but ask yourself why Albie and those like him would ever have a birdstrike problem if birds could somehow "sense" radar output. (I'm willing to bet that an F-15 with all of those "APQ boxes" up and running puts out a wee bit more wattage than our Bendix and RCA's, not to mention the Sentry crew at Fairbanks.)

On the topic of declaring an emergency, why bring ego into it? Declaring an emergency has the added benefit of putting the crew in the proper mindset. (We do it in the sim, fly like you train!)

Anybody else?

 

[501261]

Reluctant to declare an emergency? What an idiot! If there's a question call it.

On the subject of radars and birds. I'm sure scientifically it can be proven that birds can't "hear" radar, but you know what, it doesn't cost anything to turn it on before takeoff or landing. So on line up and final I'll flip the old radar on, just in case that old wives tale has any possibility of truth to it.

It’s not like we can ask the birds, “Hey can you ‘hear’ this?” Who knows having the radar on today might have kept me from hitting a bird today.

 

[AAsRedHeadedbro]

Re: a bird's tendency to dive...

I actually had a bird do the opposite! This stupid bird would've been fine. But no. He pulled UP at the last second and nailed my windscreen!

As an aside - I always thought I would be "tough" and not duck under the glareshield if I saw a bird. Nope. I ducked without even thinking about it. So much for mister tough guy. My FO had a good laugh at that.

 

[whiskytangofoxt]

Emergency???

If at any point you doubt the uneventful outcome of a flight, declair the emergency, better to call it and not need it , than to need it and not use it. That is what company incident reports are for. fly safe, and defend it on the ground. AS for my old company-get beaten anyway

 

[B6Busdriver]

I don't know why some are so hesitant to declare an emergency. What if you return and land over max landing weight? Well now you've exceeded a limitation on an airplane. If nothing else it's CYA.

 

[Fly-n-high]

I guess the 2500 hr RJ captains know something we don't.

 

[Gulfstream 200]

Hesitant to declare an emergency???!!!

must be one of those "hero" CRJ captains..scary.

If in doubt, just declare the emergency - contrary to what you were probably taught by an ignorant instructor, the feds aren't going to break your balls. They may, however, take your certificates for good (or worse) if you fly around and be a hero while your butt should have been on the ground.

 

[Ty Webb]

Yes, Yes; it can be an emergency, but I would be reluctant to declare one if there were no engine, control or windscreen issues. Thanks all for the safety lecture...

These comments coming from a guy who lists himself as a 2500tt RJ Capt. Sounds like you've got a lot more maturing to do.

 

[Mr Hat]

I always thought I would be "tough" and not duck under the glareshield if I saw a bird. Nope. I ducked without even thinking about it. So much for mister tough guy. My FO had a good laugh at that.

LOL
Thats a funny visual, but not to worry, Im sure If I saw a bird coming at me at 140kts, I'd duck too!

 

[Snoopy58]

Birds' "Dive, Dive" reaction

I think most of us have probably seen birds dive away from a big noisy metal monster flying at them. I've heard that it's a reaction instinct to dive to gain airspeed so as to better avoid predators (owls, hawks, etc). Don't know that for a fact, just what I've heard. My question: do the really big birds (Canada Geese, etc) have the same reaction? Seems like the predators they'd fear are all on the ground, not the air. Are they also prone to dive when frightened the way that smaller birds are?

Thanks!

 

[Michael Knight]

It depends on whether they are African or European.