Bird strikes are a relatively common issue in aviation but rarely result in serious accidents.
In 2024, the United States recorded an average of 54 wildlife strikes per day, according to the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), with most involving birds.
About 90 per cent of bird strikes occur near airports – during takeoff, landing, or low-altitude flight – according to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Last month, South Korean investigators provided an update on the December 2024 Jeju Air crash, stating that the plane, which crashed during an emergency landing after a bird strike, could have continued flying on the damaged engine that remained operational after the pilots shut down the other one.
The Boeing 737-800 instead belly-landed at Muan airport without its landing gear down, overshot the runway and erupted into a fireball after slamming into an embankment, killing all but two of the 181 people on board.
The most famous bird strike incident occurred in 2009, when a US Airways flight made an emergency landing on the Hudson River in New York after striking a flock of geese. All 155 passengers and crew on board survived.
