Las Vegas Sun

November 22, 2009

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By the numbers:

Nevada aircraft collisions with animals

By Chris Morris (contact), Alex Richards (contact)

Monday, May 4, 2009 | 2 a.m.

Last month the FAA released records detailing about 100,000 reported wildlife collisions with aircraft in the United States since 1990. It comes on the heels of a dramatic water landing by a US Airways flight in New York this year in which both engines were rendered useless after ingesting a flock of birds. The charts below show the 445 reports of aircraft at or near Nevada airports. The FAA estimates that only about 1 in 5 strikes are officially reported. The strikes outlined in these reports are overwhelmingly avian, but in a handful of cases, planes in Nevada have hit four-legged animals that have wandered onto runways. They include a domestic dog, coyotes and foxes — even a burro was reportedly clipped by a small aircraft landing at Calvada Meadows Airport in Pahrump.

Click to enlarge photo

Chris Morris

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