JetBlue Emergency tonight

[Diesel]

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...

If you have just had a birdstrike you have no idea what it hit. If you didn't have a birdstrike the bird didn't hit the aircraft, thus no birdstrike.

Anybirdstrike can be a serious danger. You don't know where the bird hit and what part of the plane it hit. Maybe the tail? Maybe at cruise the plane is fine but when you start slowing down or hanging the gear out something might show it's head.

An emergency call doesn't cost you anything and it makes sure that if you start to have problems when you slow down your arse wouldn't be in the sling if you lose altiude. It might be some more paperwork but who cares better safe than sorry.

 

[mar]

Foolish

ReportCanoa--Being "reluctant" to declare an emergency is foolish. As Diesel says, it costs you nothing.

And, you never should've made that second post. Now you're gonna have to suffer the wrath of more experienced pilots who have actually "been there and done that."

Good luck.

 

[Flying Freddie]

Dear Mister ReportCanoa,

Be sure to tell your interviewer about how brave you are. I would rather declare an emergency and find out I didn't have to rather than have The preacher calling on my wife asking "Are you the widow Smith?"

 

[crosscut]

... Anybirdstrike can be a serious danger. You don't know where the bird hit and what part of the plane it hit. Maybe the tail? ....

A subtle jab at Airbus’ composite tail?

 

[Swann757]

I definitely can appreciate the concern for bird strikes. I was surely blessed and fortunate from a birdstrike, or more accurate "multiple bird strike.

I was on short final at approx. 200 feet at night and in a split second and no time to react saw an unknow number of canadian geese in the windscreen with several thumps to follow. I landed w/o incident and found no damage to the aircraft upon inspection.

When I talked to my F/O a couple of days later, he stated he spoke with someone and they found six dead geese. I don't drink but I glad that's one six pack I didn't buy.

Fortunate and blessed. Thank You Jesus!

Can't be taken lightly as many have said.

 

[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?