The pilot reported he conducted a local flight in the Thatcher CX4.
On final approach to land at the airport in Angier, North Carolina, about ¼ mile from the runway, he glanced down at the airspeed indicator, and then glanced up and “all of a sudden” a flock of birds flew into the airplane.
He told investigators it was “like a wall” or like a “machine gun” going off in his flight path.
He reported that the birds hit with the airplane and after that point he “was a passenger.”
He recalled the airplane entered an aerodynamic stall and spin and subsequently descended and hit trees and terrain.
The fuselage and wings sustained substantial damage, while the pilot sustained serious injuries.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s encounter with a flock of birds on final approach, which resulted in a loss of control, an aerodynamic stall and spin, and impact with trees and terrain.
To download the final report. Click here. This will trigger a PDF download to your device.
This January 2022 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.
So the first commenter wants to eradicate all birds around the airport so he can poke holes in the sky in his little airplane? Better to eradicate people like that brainiac.
Ahem. What part of “pursuading birds and other animals to avoid airports” says to erradicate them?
Look at how many airliners suck in birds and lose an engine, possibly generators with it, or the hydraulic pumps. Where do you go if there isn’t a body of water to land on a la Sully?
How many people on the ground have to die in one of those instances.
Or, you take two birds through the plexiglass, like geese, so that both pilots are incapacitated. What gets damaged on the ground, perhpas a hospital? Maybe a day care?
The problem is, no one gets serious about an issue until blood is spilled when it comes to aviation. Look at history and see what serious changes were made because of a crash that killed some famous people, or an airliner full of people.
I suspect the indigenous birds are thinking those alien air machines need to be irradiated too, wasn’t a safety issue until they showed up in the neighborhood 🤔
I’m sorry but we need to step up and quit tap dancing around the issue…. I have no real driving force to kill birds or any other animals….but we really need to face reality. These large birds are a life threatening issue when it comes to Aviation and Pilot safety. Around the airports we need to control the population even if it means eradicating some of the over population of these dangerous animals. We have let them proliferate to the point that they have become a Danger to Aviation, not just a nuisance. Once again I am not big on killing birds but when you weigh that against the Death of Individuals flying and / or possibly on the ground I think we need to Really Look at that Objectively. We cannot let the lack of common sense we see so often now, permeate into Aviation. In this instance it can and will be Deadly.
Birds are not over populated. In North America, we have lost 30% of our birds in the last 4 decades. Ignorance is not a good jump off point for talking policy.
I avoided a large flock of turkey vultures. Turned back on final and saw one maybe 10 yards away heading for windscreen. I said a short colorful metaphor pulled the nose up so I wouldn’t eat it. It hit my Tecnam P2008TC smack center on the spinner. Bird and spinner disintegrated, but the impact changed pitch on my ground adjustable propeller. The resulting vibration was about to tear engine off airplane causing me to shut it down. The saving grace was that I was on a mile final at my home airport with enough altitude and speed to land without further damage. However it was a 42 aviation unit experience and 3 months down time before flying again.
The joy of aviation
These events are what indicates that we need some reliable means of pursuading birds and other animals to avoid airports. And it must be self-sustaining, not require human handlers so that small airports that have part time care-takers can afford such a system.