[Az Joe]

Seems like something could be designed that wouldn’t interfere with the air intake but would keep the birds out of the engines on these planes. Like the cow catchers on trains.

[3ZZZ]

I have wondered about that for many years

[LukeL]

Two problems with that. 1. What is strong enough to stop an impact at up to and over 250 mph? 2. What if that fails and gets sucked into the engine?

[Bobalu]

I always had the idea that the three engine commercial and business jet designs with one engine above the fuselage at the tail might be safer in a bird strike...

[noiseman]

Seems like something could be designed that wouldn’t interfere with the air intake but would keep the birds out of the engines on these planes. Like the cow catchers on trains.

Not possible. It would be like trying to block a cannonball, with a screen or similar device that was lightweight and not restrictive to the airflow. And that would be hard enough if the engine wasn’t turning and all we had to worry about was the ram air impact from the speed of the aircraft. But on top of that is the fact that the jet engine is sucking in an enormous volume of air, adding to the force.

[maddog55]

Seems if that was practical it would have been designed and implemented by now. Bottom line is it isn’t.

[Paal Gulli]

"Seems like something could be designed that wouldn’t interfere with the air intake but would keep the birds out of the engines on these planes. Like the cow catchers on trains."

You should track all the engine designers down and let them know what dunces they are.