FAA releases bird-strike data

WASHINGTON, April 24 (UPI) -- Federal aviation regulators released records of bird strikes by planes at U.S. airports that show there have been at least 89,000 since 1990.

Because airlines and airports report bird strikes voluntarily, the data may not be complete. The Federal Aviation Administration estimated when it made the records public that only 20 percent of strikes are reported.

The FAA at first resisted demands for release of the database. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said on his blog that he was inspired by the release last week of four Justice Department memos on torture, National Public Radio said.

In January, a U.S. Airways plane lost power in both engines when it hit a flock of birds shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport in New York. The pilot was able to make a controlled crash landing in the Hudson River, saving the lives of all passengers and crew.

The FAA data suggest that most bird strikes are far less dramatic. At Orlando International Airport in central Florida, jets have hit birds on average once a week since 1990, The Orlando Sentinel reported.