--- On Sat, 6/20/09, Greg Little <> wrote:
> Why couldn't a sturdy mesh cone or grid of some sort be
> fitted over the front of the engine intake to deflect
> birds, at least above a certain size? Surely the experts
> must have thought of this? Maybe there are good reasons
> why it is not feasible.
When we're sitting comfortably inside a passenger jet, it's hard to imagine the
impact a bird weighing a couple of kilos would have on any component when it
strikes at up to 900kmh. The sort of protection to prevent something the size
and weight of a goose from entering the engine at all would prevent the engine
from working properly. At best it might be possible to "dice" the bird a bit
before it hit the engine in the hope the engine would not be damaged, but if it
was feasible I'm sure it would have been done.
The exceptional thing about the Hudson River incident was that the geese flying
in their typical "v" formation were sufficiently spread out at just the right
angle that both of the jet's engines were hit and failed. I've never heard of
another incident where all the engines of an aircraft with more than one engine
failed due to bird strike.
I don't think there's really anything practical that can be done about it and
frankly the risk is incredibly small or it would have happened long before now,
given the number of aircraft flying all around the world every day.
Rob
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