Reports of planes striking birds are on a record pace

The government’s tally for all bird strikes last year could reach or even exceed 10,000 for the first time - which would represent about 27 strikes every day. There were at least 57 cases in the first seven months of 2009 that caused serious damage and three in which aircraft were destroyed by collisions with birds. At least eight people died, and six more were hurt.

(...) Why the increase in bird-strike reports?

Airports and airlines have become more diligent about reporting, said Mike Beiger, national coordinator for the airport wildlife hazards program at the Agriculture Department. Analysts also blame an increase in the populations of some large birds like Canada geese that can knock out engines on passenger jets.

In statistics from 2005 through July, reports of bird strikes have doubled in at least 17 states, including many along the Mississippi and central migratory flyways running across the central United States. The 17 states are: Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

With reports surging for 2009 - expected to be as much as 40 percent higher than 2008 once the final accounting is in - government officials were concerned that disclosing details about such strikes would discourage reports by airports and airlines, which might worry about lost business. The previous high was 7,507 strikes in 2007.

After US Airways Flight 1549 landed in the Hudson on Jan. 15, the AP asked the government for its data, including details about more than 93,000 strikes since 1990. Even after the FAA agreed to turn over the records, it quietly proposed a new federal rule to keep the information secret. But Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood intervened and ordered the release. LaHood recently included the disclosure in a list of the department’s leading safety accomplishments for last year.