Prevent another "miracle on the Hudson"

(CNN) – Ten years after what has been dubbed the "Hudson's Miracle", it is still amazing that all passengers on US Airways flight 1549 survived.

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the most famous emergency landing in the history of modern aviation.

Shortly after Chesley pilot "Sully" Sullenberger took off from New York's LaGuardia Airport on January 15, 2009 with 154 passengers and his crew, two eight-pound geese flew into each of the twin engines from the plane. Suddenly, both engines were no longer working and Sullenberger was facing a heartbreaking decision.

Flight 1549 reminds us that we are not the only creatures flying in the sky.

Despite growing concern, the statistics retrace the annual impacts of birds in the United States. they exploded.

According to the European Space Agency, the estimated cost of all aviation bird strikes is over $ 1 billion a year.

If you need more evidence to say that birds that crash in planes are a relatively common element of modern air travel, just look at the headlines.

Even the Vice President of the United States was touched.

Birds + planes = snarge & # 39;

When planes and birds collide, you are often "trapped".

Scientists from the Smithsonian Institution cited the term to describe fabric and flow. remains that are still attached to a plane after a collision, said Mike Begier, expert on bird strikes, who participated in the investigation on flight 1549.

In 2016, Begier , National Coordinator of the Airport Wildlife Hazards program of the United States Department of Agriculture, told CNN that he will never forget to look closely at the blades of the engines of Flight 1549. In addition to cringe, "you can see that feather remains," said Begier. The engine was hot at the moment of impact, "so a lot of that material was kind of cooked – if you will, it had become difficult."

Begier stated that the great lesson from Flight 1549 was: "It can happen, it's no longer an abstraction, we almost experienced this catastrophic event with the Miracle aboard the Hudson, but it was obvious that a highly qualified crew was on board this aircraft and this did not happen. "

Now with increased awareness and better management of wildlife in airports, Begier said that another bird's impact was as terrifying as flight 1549 was perhaps a little less likely.

There are not necessarily so many strikes going on, he said. The number of reported bird strikes has increased in part because the aviation community is paying more attention to it. People are reporting more and more strikes.

In addition, bird strikes resulting in damaged aircraft are declining at major airports.

Preventive Strategies

The most effective way to hunt birds from airports is Dickey said in 2016 that they had to remove their habitat.

"The fauna will enter for three reasons: food, water or shelter," he explained. Remove them and you will force the birds to go elsewhere.

Emerging technology could provide other tools. The FAA has spent more than 10 years trying to perfect a special radar that detects birds. He had trouble keeping up with the birds because they are quite small, but the experts said the FAA was improving them.

Jet engine manufacturers have tried to design screens to protect engine entrances against birds, but until now, experts say nothing has worked enough to be practical because problems with air circulation and overweight.

Airlines Lobbyist Airlines For In a 2016 statement, America said its pilots "undergo advanced flight training", which includes "preventative strategies".

The former employer of Sullenberger, US Airways, merged with American Airlines, which had said in a statement this week that "the preparation for the attack of birds for our pilots is an important and standard of training. "

Achieving zero impact of birds at airports would be difficult if not impossible, but the goal would be to try to get as close to zero as possible, said Begier. "We can establish landmarks – and that's actually an ongoing discussion in the airport community right now."

Experts say focusing on effective wildlife management and pilot training will go a long way in preventing future incidents such as Flight 1549. The end of the next emergency response will be the following: bird might not be so miraculous.

Aaron Cooper from CNN contributed to this report.