The pilot reported that, about two miles from his destination, he made a left turn to enter the downwind leg for landing at an airport in San Diego when a bird came “out of the sun.”
He made a hard right turn to avoid the bird and prevent it from coming through the windscreen. The bird subsequently collided with the leading edge of the Cessna 172’s left wing.
The pilot continued to his intended destination without further incident.
Post-accident examination revealed substantial damage to the left wing.
Probable cause: An in-flight collision with a bird.
NTSB Identification: GAA18CA063
This November 2017 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Geese are not really birds. They are weapons of mass destruction, ask Capt. Sully. I know of a pilot who had the active and was taking off when some geese decided to take off perpendicular to the active WITHOUT clearance. He was able to come around and land after some of the birds that had gone thru the chopper cleared. He was lucky it was a rental so he didn’t have to clean the plane. :-0
“I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead [after hitting a 172] without ever having felt sorry for itself”
D. H. Lawrence
Interesting problem but you never know but maybe it was a kamikaze bird from another land.
Actually, I have had birds come in close but always avoided contact with me. However, I know of a Mooney 21 owner who hit three geese flying above him when he decided to climb above a thin veil of clouds. He ended up with an emergency landing but flew the plane home doing about $2,000., damage to the plane. His then wife refused to ever fly with him again.
I have never come across a bird determined to commit suicide. In fact, we both seem to have much in common and share many of the same interests.
Birds seem to enjoy flying very much and do so whenever they get the chance. Much like my under-powered 172, birds can dive a whole lot better than they can climb. Also, birds seem to be very concerned about where their next meal is coming from… and sex.
Hmmmm… Maybe I had better look in the mirror soon and check my back for feathers.
I think it was one of those evil enemy birds diving out of the sun trying to take out as many GA aircraft as it could. Thank goodness it got spat. 😉
A 20 mph bird vs a 100 mph Cessna is no match. The bird can’t react fast enough.
As mentioned in a previous report, a bird will dive when threatened, so the best advise is to climb away from the bird and hope it hits the strut , gear or glances off the fuselage.
I have been flying slow machines a long time and never made any changes to avoid birds. They are generally more maneuverable than my 172 and get out of the way. Had the 172’s flight path remained constant, would there have been a collision. I’m sure there are a lot of experts out there that could give us the best a “Best Practices” in this situation.