Washington- There are a lot of air planes that take off every day from each of the facilities in the US Air Force.
Following a incident last week where birds struck the engines of a passenger jet that took off from New York LaGuardia Airport, it has focused attention on the issue.
As that civilian investigation continues, Air Force officials are confident about their preparation which prevents the same thing from happening on a military aircraft.
Having the issue occur in civilian life has brought the subject of bird strikes to the foreground. Last year the Air Force dealt with more than 4,000 bird strikes, and they deal with the issue on a continued basis. It makes the issue one that everyone is now aware of, and puts attention on the Air Force in how they manage to deal with the issue
None of the bird strikes that the Air Force has dealt with in the last year has been a Class A incident, where it resulted in a death or loss of more than $1 million dollars. But bird strikes are an issue that do cost the Air Force a lot of money each year.
The incident brought public focus to a problem the Air Force, along with the airline industry, has long struggled to overcome. The Air Force is proactive, they use pyrotechnics to chase birds away. Loud sounds are used by special personnel, and at a last resort they can and do apply for permits to trap the wildlife or birds and relocated it to another location away from Airplanes.
