In the National Geographic Daily News is an interesting article on bird-plane strikes.

Bloody Skies: The Fight to Reduce Deadly Bird-Plan Collisions
Why doesn?t the FAA adopt avian radar tracking to help pilots avoid colliding with birds?

See: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/10/131108-aircraft-bird-strikes-faa-radar-science/#close-modal

You may need to register to read the article. I was able to bypass registering the first time, but was not able to do so a second time.

Some key points and excerpts from the article:
- According to Capt. Chesley B. ?Sully? Sullenberger, the risk of airplanes striking birds is as great today as it was when he landed his crippled jet on the Hudson River.
- None of the National Transportation Safety Board recommendations have been fully implemented. Instead an aggressive wildlife culling effort has and is continuing to be done.
- Stepped up USDA killings haven?t materially reduced the number of Canada Geese strikes. The culling does nothing to prevent collisions with migrating birds.
- Avian radar along with the knowledge of bird migration patterns can be used to reduce collisions with birds, but it is not being done at any significant level.
- Politics and reliance on the USDA to kill wildlife is keeping avian radar from being used.
- Seattle-Tacoma International Airport installed and has been using an Accipiter Radar system.
- Capt. Sullenberger states ?There?s always this constant tension between doing what?s easiest, what?s quickest, what?s least costly, versus taking the time, making the effort, to doing it right.?
Diane Weinstein
Issaquah