Things That Go Bump (Often at Night)

Jay Hopkins

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

Verified

Key Takeaways:

Wildlife strikes, especially bird strikes, are a frequent and significant aviation hazard, often causing substantial damage and fatalities, even in seemingly routine flights.
Pilots can proactively assess strike risks by utilizing online tools like the Bird Avoidance Model (BAM) and Avian Hazard Advisory System (AHAS) to identify high-risk areas and times.
Effective mitigation strategies for pilots include modifying flight paths, adjusting altitudes to avoid common bird habitats, not taking off with visible wildlife on runways, and reporting all strikes to contribute to safety data.

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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.