Posted on 10/28/2017 2:39:44 PM PDT by ransomnote
Video at link. Boeng 757-200 at 30,000ft.
The related article is at www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/article-5026537/Oklahoma-City-Thunder-stunned-bird-clashes-plane.html
Good find.
I see the beast is around 25 lbs. According to Wiki, a Minneapolis to Chicago flight should be well out of a Griffon vultures natural range.
Diagram of range here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griffon_vulture#/media/File:Gyps_fulvus_dis.PNG
During my Air Force career, I remember seeing flight safety traffic about a bird strike involving a turkey vulture that collided with an RF-4C from the Idaho Air National Guard. Impact shattered the windscreen and the birds’ remains squarely struck the pilot, leaving him seriously injured. The RF-4 was at 15,000 feet when it struck the vulture.
Fortunately, the RF-4C had dual controls and the WSO landed the jet from the back seat. The accident ended the pilot’s career.
Could it be....the Atlanta Hawks?
Didn’t a big bird down a B-1?
California buzzards.
I am sure I heard the bird strike happened on approach. No way at 30K ft.
Geese will definitely migrate in the dark.
Hitting a bird at 30,000+ feet altitude is almost as unexpected as sailing the North Pacific and hitting a container which has come adrift from a container carrier ship.
Ruin your whole day (or night)!
http://gcaptain.com/how-many-shipping-containers-lost-at-sea/
“For the combined six year period from 2008 to 2013, the WSC estimates that there were 546 containers lost on average each year, not counting for catastrophic events. Counting for catastrophic events, an average of 1,679 containers were lost each year over the six years.”
The aircraft most used for “The Hump” missions were the
C-46(Commando), C-47 (military DC-3), and C-87/C-109 (cargo versions of B-24 Liberator). The C-109 tanker version was used to transport the large quantity of fuel needed for the 1944 B-29 missions launched from the forward bases in China.
The route through “The Hump” went through the mountain passes, not over Everest.
From Wikipedia:
“Flying over the Hump proved to be an extremely hazardous undertaking for Allied flight crews. The air route wound its way into the high mountains and deep gorges between north Burma and west China, where violent turbulence, 125 to 200 mph (320 km/h) winds,[23][105] icing, and inclement weather conditions were a regular occurrence. Lack of suitable navigational equipment, radio beacons, and inadequate numbers of trained personnel (there were never enough navigators for all the groups) continually affected airlift operations.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hump
Haven’t you heard about the bird?
Ah so what? I once was piloting a plane that happened to get dented by the ground. Bastards cut off my mess after that one...
Everybody knows the bird is the word.
Lol, that’s true; the plane would have been obliterated if it and Rosie had collided!
Something like this, but worse:
From globalsecurity.org
The first B-1B [84-0052] crash after the aircraft became operational in 1986 was on 28 September 1987 at La Junta, near near Pueblo Colorado. Two of those killed were instructors who were not in ejection seats and did not have time to bail out manually. A third crewman, the co-pilot, died because his ejection seat malfunctioned. Three surviving crew members bailed out successfully. The bomber from Dyess AFB was flying a low level training mission about 600 feet above the ground at a speed of 560 knots [about 645 mph] when the plane struck a 15-to-20-pound North America white pelican. The bird tore through a wing, ripping apart critical hydraulic, electrical and fuel lines. This started a fire which maded it impossible for the pilot to control the plane. The Air Force subsequently hardened the vulnerable area on the remaining B-1s. Individual B-1Bs were restricted from high-speed, low-altitude flight below 5,000 ft. above ground level until bird strike protection kits were installed, with all modifications completed by December 1988. The modifications are designed to withstand the impact of a 10-lb. bird at 590 kt. The B-1B was originally designed to withstand strikes by birds weighing up to six pounds.
Wow - can’t believe that tail is still hanging on.
‘So what kind of beefy bird flies at 30,000 feet? :)
Geese can do 27000 feet during migration.
Follow the below link for different birds.
https://themysteriousworld.com/10-highest-flying-birds-in-the-world
During Migration they fly high due to less wind resistance in the thin air. Thus their effective ground speed is much greater. That is the same reason airliners fly at 30,000 plus feet. Their altitude limit is a function of oxygen for the birds and also airliners so long as they do not get up in “coffin corner” but that is a different subject. So long as they have sufficient oxygen transfer in the thin air they will go higher to effect greater ground speed with less total energy expended. It is simple aerodynamics.
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