Birds in the Air

At Boston's Logan Airport on day last June, a Lockheed F-94B jet fighter blew apart during takeoff. Flight mechanics were baffled until, in the engine wreckage, they found the charred carcass of a seagull. Sucked into the left air scoop as the fighter rose from the runway, the gull's body broke a fuel line, causing an excess amount of gasoline to spurt into the engine.

Similar accidents caused by birds have been plaguing airmen for years. Recently, the Air Force ordered its Flight Safety Research Section to make a nationwide survey of the problem and see what could be done to solve it. By last week the results were in, but no solution was in sight. Between Jan. 1, 1950 and June 30, 1955, FSR reported, 401 U.S. aircraft were damaged in collisions with birds.

The breakdown shows that 164 jets and 237 propeller-driven aircraft were involved in the accidents. Twenty-three of the jet collisions were classified as "major accidents," and at least one was fatal. This occurred when a bird crashed through the windshield of a Republic F-84, stunning the pilot and sending his aircraft spinning to earth. Bird-caused accidents to jets rose from eleven in 1950, twelve in 1951, to 48 in 1954, 27 in the first six moths of 1955. Some have resulted from birds' nests being built overnight in the air scoops.

In its search for an effective solution, FSR considered dozens fo suggestions. Among them:

P: Destroying birds' eggs in the vicinity of air bases. Rejected because it might violate federal laws protecting birds.

P: Using falcons to patrol airstrips. Rejected because bird lovers might protest.

P: Scaring off the birds with loudspeakers. Rejected as too expensive.

Britain's Royal Air Force, which has encountered similar problems, told FSR that it had tried scarecrows, shotguns and ultrasonic "sound" waves, all with little lasting effect. It is also trying sound recording of "birds in anguish," and mothballs strewn near the runways.

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