GBSC Working Group "Statistics"
Chairman: Hartmut Lehmkuhl, Delvag aviation insurance
Vice Chairman: Christoph Sindern, Munich Airport
Measures against bird strikes can only be effective if they are developed on the basis of exact bird-strike statistics compiled from notifications of bird/aircraft collisions. Since 1997, the GBSC has been compiling the official German bird-strike statistics on behalf of the federal government.
In Germany, the number of bird strikes occurring in civil and military air traffic amounts to 1500 per year. Worldwide, the annual total of bird-strike incidents reaches several tens of thousands, some of them causing serious damage.
The annual cost incurred as result of bird-strike damages in German civil aviation amounts to 3 million euros. In 1993, the collision between 2 buzzards and a B-747 resulted in a 8,5 million euro damage. On average, 37% of bird-strike incidents lead to damage. The measure of damage caused by a strike depends on the weight of the respective bird, the angle and location of the impact, and the speed of the aircraft. The majority of bird strike incidents (80%) occur within airport territory. Only 10% occur at cruise level. (For the remaining 10%, no data are available).
The monthly distribution of incidents shows more or less distinct peaks at the beginning of the spring and autumn migration periods, as well as in midsummer. Of the bird species involved, small bird and gulls dominate, followed by birds of prey, pigeons, Lapwing, Starling, crows and various water bird species. Up to now, more than 100 bird species involved in collisions have been identified.
For military air traffic, the statistics look similar. However, in military aviation, there are more total losses even though damaging bird-strikes have a share of less than 30 %, and thus less than in civil aviation. Unlike in civil air traffic, the majority of bird-strikes occur during low-level and cruise flight. Only about 25% of incidents occur within airport territory.
The analysis of the bird-strike statistics reveals that standardised measures alone are not sufficient for preventing bird strikes. Instead, the specific circumstances at the respective airport, as well as the specific conditions of military and civil aviation, have to be taken into consideration. Furthermore, attention has to be paid to the fact that, throughout Central Europe, local and regional bird movements take place all throughout the year. During spring and autumn, these movements are superposed by long-distance migrations involving several hundreds of millions of birds per year.
