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Articles 1 - 11 of 11
Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Successful Strategies For Aviation Wildlife Mitigation, Paul Eschenfelder
Successful Strategies For Aviation Wildlife Mitigation, Paul Eschenfelder
Paul F. Eschenfelder
Between October, 2007 and January, 2009 there were four catastrophic aircraft accidents in the United States caused by collisions between birds and aircraft. Four aircraft were destroyed and 15 people killed in these accidents. In North America we place great importance on airport wildlife control, however none of these accidents would have been prevented by improved airport wildlife control. This reveals a gap in our safety management plan for preventing/reducing wildlife hazards to aircraft. This paper explains, using case studies, successful aviation mitigation methodologies used in the past to mitigate other aviation hazards such as wind shear, volcanic ash, winter …
Reduction Of Risk: A Flight Crew Guide To The Avoidance And Mitigation Of Wildlife Strikes To Aircraft, Paul Eschenfelder, Steve Hull
Reduction Of Risk: A Flight Crew Guide To The Avoidance And Mitigation Of Wildlife Strikes To Aircraft, Paul Eschenfelder, Steve Hull
Paul F. Eschenfelder
Each year the world’s airlines lose between $1 billion to $2 billion due to wildlife strikes to aircraft. This is roughly the same level of loss as the carriers pay out each year for lost luggage. One US airline cites its losses at $2 million a month due to engine ingestion alone. The last several years have seen both hull losses to air carrier aircraft and lesser damage caused by such actions as loss of control and runway excursions. Wildlife strike mitigation is a defense in depth: airplane certification/construction standards; action by airport operators to minimize wildlife on and around …
Let No New Thing Arise: Wildlife Hazards To Aviation, Paul Eschenfelder (Capt.)
Let No New Thing Arise: Wildlife Hazards To Aviation, Paul Eschenfelder (Capt.)
Paul F. Eschenfelder
Aviation today faces another, new, thing: wildlife hazards. Since 1995 we have, worldwide, over 90 people dead from collisions between their aircraft and wildlife. It is truly a worldwide problem: the General of the Air Force in India worries about elephants on his runways; flamingos cause engine failure on a wide body aircraft in Kenya; Lan Chile has 2 B767s with destroyed engines in one week in Santiago due to bird ingestion; the Israeli Air Force has lost more aircraft to bird strikes than to air-air combat; an Air Ontario twin turboprop has both props shattered at Toronto City after …
Jet Engine Certification Standards, Paul Eschenfelder
Jet Engine Certification Standards, Paul Eschenfelder
Paul F. Eschenfelder
The ability of modern jet engines to ingest birds and continue to operate is largely misunderstood or not contemplated at all in the aviation industry. Currently, there is not one jet engine operating in the world that is certified to ingest one large bird (goose, swan, stork, pelican, vulture, etc) and continue to operate. The effort to harmonize bird ingestion rules between the FAA and JAA has failed. Controversy erupted in recent certification meetings regarding the database being used to certify engines. Additionally, should only rotating engine parts meet certain standards, or all engine parts exposed to impact meet standards? …
Training For Airport Wildlife Control Personnel: The Ibsc Recommendation, Paul Eschenfelder, Anastasios Anagnostopoulos
Training For Airport Wildlife Control Personnel: The Ibsc Recommendation, Paul Eschenfelder, Anastasios Anagnostopoulos
Paul F. Eschenfelder
ICAO Annex 14, chapter 9.4, sets as a worldwide standard the control of airport wildlife hazards by ‘competent’ airport personnel. Unfortunately ICAO provides no guidance as to what constitutes competence or properly trained personnel. The International Birdstrike Committee sought to develop a ‘best practice’ for the training of airport wildlife control personnel by forming a Working Group to develop a training recommendation. Surprisingly the Working Group found almost no state guidelines worldwide and little in the way of informal training guidelines among ICAO states reviewed. Using input from various national regulatory agencies, informal programs and the working group’s wildlife control …
Letter To The Faa Regarding Modified Standards For Bird Strike Impacts, Paul F. Eschenfelder
Letter To The Faa Regarding Modified Standards For Bird Strike Impacts, Paul F. Eschenfelder
Paul F. Eschenfelder
The Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), representing the safety interests of 53,000 professional airline pilots flying for 51 airlines in the United States and Canada, has reviewed the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the referenced docket. The NPRM proposes modified standards to which engines are certified with respect to their ability to withstand impacts from birds or similar wildlife hazards. We feel the proposed standard is a step in the right direction, but cannot under any circumstances be considered attainment of a goal. As outlined below, the data used in developing the NPRM has been superseded by more accurate …
High Speed Flight At Low Altitude: Hazard To Commercial Aviation ?, Paul F. Eschenfelder , Capt.
High Speed Flight At Low Altitude: Hazard To Commercial Aviation ?, Paul F. Eschenfelder , Capt.
Paul F. Eschenfelder
Commercial aircraft are capable of, and in fact, do, operate at high speed (>250 knots indicated airspeed [KIAS]) at low altitude (below 10,000’ above ground level) worldwide. Design, construction and certification standards for these aircraft were developed over 40 years ago. Since the development of these standards populations of large flocking birds have increased dramatically in many parts of the world. Yet neither design/construction standards nor operational practice have changed to reflect the new threat. Subsequent serious damage resulting from recent collisions indicates change is necessary. Since 2003, flight rules in Canada and the United States have been amended, …
Have Population Increases Of Large Birds Outpaced Airworthiness Standards For Civil Aircraft?, Richard A. Dolbeer, Paul Eschenfelder
Have Population Increases Of Large Birds Outpaced Airworthiness Standards For Civil Aircraft?, Richard A. Dolbeer, Paul Eschenfelder
Paul F. Eschenfelder
Bird-aircraft collisions (bird strikes) are an increasing safety and economic concern to the USA civil aviation industry, costing over $400 million each year. One approach to reducing risks associated with strikes is to require commercial aircraft components to meet certain standards of safe performance in the event of a bird strike. The Federal Aviation Administration has developed airworthiness standards for airframes, windshields and engines using a single 4-lb (1.82-kg) bird mass as the maximum that must be tested (with the exception of a single 8-lb bird for the empennage, 6-lb bird for certain mid-sized engines that may be developed in …
Integrating Avian Radar Into The Aviation Operating Environment, Richard Sowden, Paul Eschenfelder
Integrating Avian Radar Into The Aviation Operating Environment, Richard Sowden, Paul Eschenfelder
Paul F. Eschenfelder
Avian radar technology has matured to the point where robust data and analysis tools are now able to provide the aviation industry with high quality information to support bird strike risk mitigation activities. The aviation operating environment is dynamic and challenging with complex interactions between the primary bird strike risk mitigation stakeholders; airport operators, air traffic service providers and flight crews. The transfer of this proof of concept technology into a suite of tools that is integrated into the aviation industry requires the engagement and support of the user community in the next critical evolutionary step of this emerging technology. …
Mandatory Strike Reporting: The Time Has Come, Paul Eschenfelder
Mandatory Strike Reporting: The Time Has Come, Paul Eschenfelder
Paul F. Eschenfelder
The reporting of wildlife collisions with aircraft in almost all places, worldwide, is voluntary. As a result data with which to design, manufacture and operate aircraft to mitigate this hazard is poor. Voluntary reporting of strikes has resulted in data collection rates in the USA of around 20%, and only about 9% of the reported strikes contain complete data on bird species. Aviation manufacturers also agree that collection of strike data is difficult, incomplete and without an industry best practice. Air carriers, when research is done, are amazed to find that strike rates may be eight times higher than their …
Organizational Efforts In Aviation Wildlife Mitigation – University Story, Paul Eschenfelder, Archie Dickey
Organizational Efforts In Aviation Wildlife Mitigation – University Story, Paul Eschenfelder, Archie Dickey
Paul F. Eschenfelder
Wildlife strikes to aircraft in the USA have increased to over 35,000 per year, costing airlines millions of dollars in damage and general aviation/corporate aviation the lives of seven people in the last year. While various government programs are in place, the number and seriousness of bird strikes is not declining. Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, an accredited university which also offers flight training, has originated seven initiatives which serve to educate the aviation community regarding wildlife hazards, document the hazard, supplement the government’s efforts and reach out to the aviation community. These initiatives are fairly low cost and, for the …