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Birds and planes danger. In New York and elsewhere, there is the danger of birds being sucked into jet engines.

Years ago, for example, a pilot skillfully landed in the Hudson river after geese were sucked in. "The Miracle on the Hudson". I can't imagine that nobody has ever thought of attaching a light, super-strong fine mesh over the engines that would not impede airflow, yet would keep the birds out. Most, if not all of us have screens at home, on our doors and windows. They're made to keep insects out, but the airflow is just fine. Any thoughts as to why this hasn't been done?

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+1 Views: 2011 Answers: 1 Posted: 11 years ago

Tags: birds safety crashes

Clonge

Great answers. I thought that my first response would be from Ducky. She probably has thousands of air miles and has never disintegrated or even collided with a plane.

Commented 11 years ago

1 Answer

jhharlan

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Here are some reasons why not:

1. The speeds involved would mandate a suitably strong grill that would invariably restrict airflow, reduce engine perfromance dramatically and increase operating costs.

2. The bird would still disintegrate, creating hazard for the engine.

3. The grill itself would also disintegrate in most collisions, and its fragments would be much more hazzardous to the engine than a bird!

Air is travelling at several hundred miles per hour as it enters the engine. Therefore a wire mesh that is strong enough to stop a bird would impose a lot of drag on the airflow, which slows down the aircraft and increases the fuel bill. Also the weight of the large mesh would increase the fuel bull.
Finally a bird hitting a mesh at that speed would break up on impact, and its bits would pass through the mesh in any case, potentially causing the very same damage to the engine as a full bird would.

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