Things That Go Bump (Often at Night)

Jay Hopkins

Sunday, May 24, 2009 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Wildlife strikes, exemplified by a fatal Canada goose collision, are a surprisingly common and serious aviation hazard, causing significant damage, costs, and fatalities.
Pilots have access to various online resources, such as the Bird Avoidance Model (BAM), Avian Hazard Advisory System (AHAS), and the National Wildlife Strike Database, to assess bird strike risk based on historical data and real-time predictions.
To mitigate risk, pilots can use these resources to adjust flight plans (e.g., modify altitude, time, or path to avoid high-risk areas), avoid observed wildlife on the ground or in flight path, and report any strikes to contribute to data collection.

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It was a routine flight in every way. A University of North Dakota flight instructor took off from Grand Forks, North Dakota, at 5:45 p.m. with a private pilot who was in the university’s commercial/instrument flight program, for a three-leg, cross-country night flight in a twin-engine Piper PA-44-180 Seminole. It was a clear night with winds out of the northwest at 10 to 15 knots, plus an airmet for possible moderate turbulence below 8,000 feet. The pilot had carefully planned the flight, utilizing DUAT to assess the weather and filing two VFR flight plans with flight service.

After an intermediate stop at Hutson Field Airport in Grafton, North Dakota, they arrived at St. Paul Downtown Airport in St. Paul, Minnesota, at 8 p.m. and used a crew car to go for dinner. Before their departure the pilots had the airplane fuel tanks filled with 42 gallons of 100LL aviation fuel, which was more than enough to get them back to Grand Forks with adequate reserves.