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While the exact cause of the tragic plane crash in South Korea that resulted in the deaths of 179 people remains unclear, there are emerging questions about whether a bird strike — an increasingly common occurrence for planes around the world — could be responsible.

According to South Korean officials, the control tower at Muan International Airport issued a bird warning to the plane shortly before its intended landing on Sunday. Investigators are actively looking into the crash and its possible causes. 

Thanks to stringent tests that planes undergo during construction, they frequently withstand bird strikes. But these events cost airlines millions of dollars in damages annually, and though rare, they can also result in injuries and fatalities.

Don’t fear, bird strikes are strikingly common

Essentially, pilots see bird strikes, which occur when a bird collides with a plane's engine, cockpit window, or nose, every day in the United States, said Shawn Pruchnicki, a professor at the Center for Aviation Studies and Integrated Systems Engineering at the Ohio State University. "When I was an airline pilot, we hit birds all the time," especially the small birds like cardinals, robins and sparrows.

Despite their frequency, plane collisions with birds and other wildlife are becoming a growing concern for aviation safety, according to a report published this year by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services. The report examined a 34-year period of bird and other wildlife strikes on planes from 1990 to 2023.

Researchers like Pruchnicki are working to better understand this phenomenon and its risks to aviation safety.

Here are some statistics that shed light on the prevalence of bird and wildlife strikes:

Commercial jet engines are required by the FAA to be carefully designed and tested to continue to operate even when birds are sucked into them.

However, issues can arise when larger birds collide with a plane, according to Pruchnicki.

A notable incident involved Capt. Chesley 

, who had to land his US Airways jet in the Hudson River in 2009 after hitting a flock of geese, which resulted in the failure of both engines. Fortunately, everyone on board survived. This incident highlighted the serious nature of bird strikes to the general public, Pruchnicki said.

A full-sized Canada goose can weigh up to 14 pounds. When such a bird hits a plane at high speeds — up to 350 miles per hour — the impact can be likened to a bowling ball colliding with a window. And that kind of damage gets expensive, fast, Pruchnicki said.

The damages from bird strikes in the U.S. from 1990 to 2019 are estimated to cost as high as $500 million per year, 

Damage to a plane's engine, wing, nose, or windshield is not usually life-threatening. In most cases, the plane is still able to land safely. But once landed, that airplane may remain out of service for weeks while undergoing expensive repairs, Pruchnicki said. For example, a cracked cockpit window can easily cost up to $90,000 to repair. A dented wing? Maybe half a million dollars, he said.

"An airplane that's in maintenance isn't making money, right? So it takes weeks to finish, millions and millions of dollars to repair. That's a huge problem" for airlines, he said.

According to the report published by the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services in March 2023, two turkey vultures collided with a B-737 Max 8 departing Jose Marti International Airport out of Cuba. The collision damaged the plane's radome and forced one of its engines to shut down. The pilots made an emergency landing, passengers were evacuated and later rebooked, and the plane was taken out of service. Total repair costs? An estimated $14.5 million.

Efforts to understand, and prevent, bird strikes are ongoing

Many airports are built near waterways and landfills, Pruchnicki notes, so naturally this leads to collisions between nature and planes.

"We're kind of invading their space," he said.

Since the  "Miracle on the Hudson" in 2009, the U.S. government has 

 to airports to invest in wildlife hazard programs and for research into detection and monitoring systems for wildlife strikes. 

, such as lasers and cannons, to scare birds and other wildlife away with varying degrees of success.

Pruchnicki, for his part, said he is currently conducting research for the FAA to analyze the effectiveness of avian radar in preventing bird strikes at airports. The use of this kind of equipment, which detects and tracks birds in the vicinity of airports, is not currently mandated by the FAA.

Pruchnicki said, "The idea is to try to figure out, how can we coexist?"

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Jaclyn Diaz

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Bird strikes occur daily for commercial flights, costing airlines millions in damages each year. Although rare, these incidents can result in injuries and fatalities.

Should you be worried about bird strikes during your next flight?

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