JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. –
Bird strikes are typically defined as a collision between an airborne animal and a man-made vehicle, especially an aircraft.
But that description doesn't capture the panic a pilot must feel when their ability to navigate is disabled because of the impact of a bird or other animal. Since 1990, there have been a total of 23 fatalities and 209 injuries attributed to wildlife strikes with aircraft across the country, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
At Joint Base Andrews, the 316th Wing safety Bird and Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard, or BASH team works diligently to ensure the personnel operating on or around the flightline as well as the base population are protected from bird impacts with aircraft.
"The BASH team's goal is to reduce the number of bird strikes at Andrews," said Capt. Kurt Ponsor, 316 WG safety officer, BASH team leader. "Another goal is to support the preservation of war-fighting capabilities through the reduction of wildlife hazards to aircraft operations."
The first officially recorded bird strike was by Orville Wright in 1905. Each year, wildlife strikes cause more than $600 million in damages to both civilian and military aircraft, according to the FAA.
"The BASH program provides critical information and support which helps aircrews mitigate the risks of bird strikes," said 1st Lt. Charles Lebeau, 1st Helicopter Squadron pilot. "The program works to maintain a safe airfield environment for the most critical phases of flight."
With a high-profile installation mission providing presidential-level support, Joint Base Andrews' BASH team ensures that birds - one of the main concerns of the team - are safely kept away from the flightline through research and documentation.
"The BASH team uses active and passive measures to get wildlife to live and feed away from the flightline," said Captain Ponsor, "Actively, we harass the birds to encourage wildlife to stay away from the airfield with a bird dog, noise cannons and pyrotechnics. Passively, we ensure a habitat doesn't invite birds to roost or feed at Andrews."
To ensure the flightline area is uninhabitable for birds, the BASH team works jointly with members of the 316th Civil Engineer Squadron.
"Members of the 316 CES keep the grass within 7 to 14 inches," said Captain Ponsor. "If it's shorter than seven inches, some species like to rest and socialize. If it's longer than 14 inches, it attracts insects and other pests, which birds eat."
The BASH team also reports each bird strike to further decrease these hazardous crashes across the nation.
"When an aircraft is struck by a bird, 316 CES maintenance personnel deliver the bird remains to me, and I send a sample to the Smithsonian Institution's Feather Identification Laboratory for identification," said Captain Ponsor. "We document what types of birds we hit so we know how to adjust our mitigation methods."
Each day, the Feather Identification Laboratory receives around a dozen packages from around the country containing samples from aircraft and bird impacts in hopes that the research the team conducts will reduce the number of bird strikes, according to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History's Web site.
With an average number of 20 strikes per day across the nation from the year 2004 to 2008, it is vital the BASH team at Joint Base Andrews works around the clock to clear the flightline of wildlife.
"It is very important for members of all BASH team elements to make flightlines a safer place for aircraft," said Captain Ponsor. "It is also important to reduce costs incurred from damages and to maintain our overall war-fighting capability."