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75 Comments
- Myztry, on 03/28/2009, -2/+31Agent K: There's always an alien battle cruiser, or a Corellian death ray, or an intergalactic plague intended to wipe out life on this miserable little planet. The only way these people can get on with their happy lives is that they DO NOT KNOW ABOUT IT!
That's the theory behind the bird strikes coverup as well, I'd imagine... Blame the men in black. - plainOldFool, on 03/28/2009, -1/+26I'm not too sure coverups are that prevalent. Because everyone knows that the bird is the word.
- pilot3033, on 03/28/2009, -1/+14That's exactly the idea. Bird strikes are more frequent than you might think, but also not nearly as dangerous. Recent media attention (because of 1549) has led to a much higher interest in bird strike activity, and I don't blame the FAA for not wanting to fan the every hungry media's flame.
Bird strikes are a near daily occurrence, leave it at that, no need to have a throng of "SPECIAL REPORTS! ZOMG! THE END IS NEAR!!!" to get a quick ratings spike. - K4Lic0, on 03/28/2009, -0/+10What happened? The FAA used to be one of the best organizations at keeping things public. I've been to flight school and have many hours in my flight log and the FAA has always been very quick to help with flight plans and information and all that crap.
- Disgod, on 03/28/2009, -0/+8I can half understand it because people are generally panicky idiots. After the Hudson River crash caused by bird strikes people are going to be hyper sensitized to any number of bird strikes, even if the actual percentage of planes experiencing bird strikes is small, and the number of emergencies caused by bird strike even lower. It is logically valid in my opinion. People see a number like 100,000 bird strikes since 1990 and go "OH MY GOD THAT'S A LOT." while not realizing that another 5,000,000 flights went off without a hitch, and only a fraction of those 100,000 bird strikes resulted in emergency situations, and fewer still in actual harm.
But on the other hand... REALLY? I mean people are panicky idiots, but they still want to go on their vacations to Hawaii and Mexico. Yeah some people might freak out and refuse to fly, but that number isn't going to be that large, and memories have a short half-lives. A terror today is a distant memory a month later. - StarCMC, on 03/28/2009, -0/+8"Don't look at the flashy thing!"
- GoKings, on 03/28/2009, -3/+11Things like this should be made public. People need to be able to access the risk (no matter how small) before they fly. My guess is that many people won't stop flying because of bird strikes.
- inactive, on 03/28/2009, -0/+7Wikileaks to the rescue?
- amabaie, on 03/28/2009, -0/+6I suspect that the government is simply trying to cover up the number of illegal aliens there are in the migratory bird population. It doesn't wear well on the officials to reveal such a porous border.
- rmaddy, on 03/28/2009, -1/+6no we're batteries, used for energy, being farmed by machines.
- imacmike, on 03/28/2009, -1/+6AAAARRRRRRGGGGGG!
Well played. - solidcube, on 03/28/2009, -3/+8What the hell is this? What are we, cattle to be farmed by the government?
- hermizzle, on 03/28/2009, -0/+4I work in an Airforce Base control room and bird strikes are very very common. In a few month people will forget all about bird strikes until another commercial/non commercial aircraft is forced to land due to birds
- grovest4life, on 03/28/2009, -0/+4Those illegal birds must be stopped their taking advantage of the system and stealing all of the native birds, bird seed.
- oboshoe, on 03/28/2009, -1/+5publishing raw data is NOT a misuse of data.
Its just data. - buckrogers1965, on 03/28/2009, -1/+5If our taxes paid for the report, then any tax payer should be able to download it for free from the internet at any time.
- oboshoe, on 03/28/2009, -1/+4
This is not even a security issue. Its just factual data that the government believes that the people can't handle. - inactive, on 03/28/2009, -0/+3Well how about they agree to let us keep our personal lives secret from them? It'll be a trade.
- pilot3033, on 03/28/2009, -0/+3you'd never fly to Florida again
- inactive, on 03/28/2009, -0/+3Headline: 248 die when airliner struck by mountain goat
- directedition, on 03/28/2009, -0/+3Without Bush in the White house, the government's conspiracy and cover-up department is very very bored. The full resources of the NSA and secret service are being deployed to keep the general public from knowing how much toilet paper EPA employees go through.
- LilRabbitFooFoo, on 03/28/2009, -1/+4"Your entire family is in DANGER!!! To find out why, you must wait until 11 pm."
- GoKings, on 03/28/2009, -0/+3lol I have no idea why I put access. Good call...
- inactive, on 03/28/2009, -4/+7The FAA isn't a fan of sensationalist and irresponsible misuse of data? That's probably it.
- pilot3033, on 03/28/2009, -0/+3When dealing with jets, you may not even notice a strike until you land and see the stain on the fuselage. Birds into engines also may not be a problem as they get literally eviscerated. The problems occur when larger birds get ingested and small fragments start clunking around in the intricate innards of a the jet engine. Even this can be a non-event as the engine is shut down and the aircraft lands.
- nascentia, on 03/28/2009, -0/+2"...planes are damaged by hitting flying birds." As opposed to planes hitting non-flying birds..?
- michaelhood, on 03/29/2009, -0/+2Well, there seems to be an absence of a certain ornithological piece [in this report].
- inajeep, on 03/28/2009, -0/+2The question is how do you make it mandatory then how do you enforce it without spending millions of dollars?
- plasmoske, on 03/28/2009, -0/+2war on birds
- Mstrommen, on 03/28/2009, -0/+2As a pilot I should say there are a few things that are mis represented in this article. First bird strikes do happen, there is nothing that can be done unless you want to eliminate all birds everywhere. "
The reporting is voluntary because the FAA has refused a decade-old recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board to make it mandatory." The thing is if a bird strike causes any sort of damage that may affect airworthiness then it must be reported. I have seen birds strike the struts on small planes and while rattling there is no damamge to the aircraft.
Third it's the FAA's stated mission to:
Regulating U.S. commercial space transportation
Encouraging and developing civil aeronautics, including new aviation technology
Issuing, suspending, or revoking pilot certificates
Regulating civil aviation to promote safety, especially through local offices called Flight Standards District Offices
Developing and operating a system of air traffic control and navigation for both civil and military aircraft
Researching and developing the National Airspace System and civil aeronautics
Developing and carrying out programs to control aircraft noise and other environmental effects of civil aviation
I really don't see anything about reporting bird strike statistics to the public on that list. Granted if the strike causes a plane to crash or causes damage to the flight control system it will be reported to the NTSB and they will investigate and report the cause. - inactive, on 03/28/2009, -1/+3I think it has more to do with the fact that bird strokes are usually concentrated in certain areas and they don't want to totally kill off the surrounding airports' business.
I can see it now.. Expedia.com will feature a "chance of bird death" map on their site to help with your flight plans.
You'd be sucking fate's dick to not care about that kind of information. - CasualNinja, on 03/28/2009, -0/+2First rule of bird strikes is we do not talk about bird strikes.
Second rule of bird strikes is WE DO NOT TALK ABOUT BIRD STRIKES. - solidcube, on 03/28/2009, -1/+3Are you really that slow?
What right is it of the FAA's to keep this kind of information from citizens? Birdstrikes are potentially extremely dangerous even for large aircraft. - SPLASTiK, on 03/28/2009, -0/+2Freedom of Information Act?
- buckrogers1965, on 03/28/2009, -0/+2After the troop movement happens, yes. Every penny spent in the military should be released to the public. Put a 20 year limit on any classified info.
- directedition, on 03/28/2009, -0/+2So are meteor strikes, but you can't really do much about them now can you? How does keeping so pointlessly inactionable information from the public make the government treat us like cattle?
- t4m5t3r, on 03/28/2009, -0/+1.......because their money's more important than your safety!!
- inactive, on 03/28/2009, -0/+1Open government...FAIL!
- kd1s, on 03/28/2009, -0/+1Put it this way, is your airport located near shallow water bodies? If so you'll have bird strikes. Any place that is a congregation area for birds is bad.
That said, the FAA excuse is laughable. But then I avoid flying if the distance is 600-700 miles. I'd prefer to drive it.
Here is another reason to avoid flying if at all possible. With the economic crunch going on one thing the airlines are cutting back on is non-flight staff, E.g. mechanics etc.
The carriers know that if you fail to maintain an aircraft, it's odds of suffering a catastrophic failure increase dramatically. But they build the cost of such a failure into the equation.
Sort of how car manufacturers know about certain defects but come to the conclusion that the cost to defend against law suits is cheaper than the cost to fix the defect.
Are you scared yet? - jgzman, on 03/28/2009, -0/+1Who gets to decide what is a matter for the public's concern?
- pinchduck, on 03/28/2009, -0/+1Someone didn't get the memo that transparency is in. You guys have a new boss now. It was the old boss that wanted everything from the location of the bathroom to the number of toilet paper rolls kept on hand a secret. New boss says to knock off the foolishness.
- directedition, on 03/28/2009, -0/+1Common sense? How many times does Obama go to the bathroom? Or who really needs to know? The overall safety of air travel is of public concern, the hard numbers about birds vs. planes has no impact on your life.
- inactive, on 03/28/2009, -0/+1*cough* FOIA *cough*
- techie4life, on 03/28/2009, -0/+1It's not about hiding the truth from the public, Its hiding it from the sensationalist media. Reporters will take this sort of information to the public(only half understanding it) and will make the equally uninformed public shocked/scared/angry. Its what they do. However, if you are informed and work within the industry as I do - you KNOW that these thing happen somewhat often, but in very rare cases do they cause an emergency situation.
I'll put my faith into the hands of a pilot at any regional/major airline in the U.S. because I know the training, and I know the countless regulations that go behind making us safe when we fly. - norcalscan, on 03/30/2009, -0/+1the whole thing would ***** themselves?!
- mwrl, on 03/28/2009, -0/+1What it comes down to is that eco-nuts might sue th airlines for killing endangered birds. Personally I think that all birds should be killed no matter what they are when around aircraft.
- inactive, on 03/28/2009, -0/+1Wow.. 1/3 people grasped the humor.
You're disappointing me Digg. Is the median intelligence dropping as active users increase? - xNaquada, on 03/30/2009, -0/+1Hold on... so if its pointless (which I am sure it is not-statistics can be used here for many organizations [environmental groups for example], why withhold the information ?
- AmazingSteve, on 03/28/2009, -0/+1If people had any idea how frequent this is the would ***** themselves.
- emt1451, on 03/29/2009, -0/+1The information is probably not being released because they fear that people simply won't fly out of (or into) airports where there are a lot of bird strikes. No traffic = airport shuts down.
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