SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A possible bird strike just after takeoff forced an American Airlines passenger jet to make an emergency landing at JFK International Airport in New York City last week.
Planes flying into Sioux Falls have experienced their own bird strikes in the past and with so many geese in that area, they’re still a concern today.
Birds and planes don’t mix.
We showed you this cell phone video last week obtained by CBS News that captured a flash aboard the American Airlines plane that may have been birds striking one of the plane’s engines.
“Pilots are definitely trained to fly on a single engine, so everything worked the way that it should work last evening,” Robert Sumwalt, former chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, told CBS News Friday.
Thankfully it landed safely.
Planes flying into Sioux Falls have experienced their own bird strikes.
“Because out by the airport the geese congregate in pretty large numbers, they are looking for any open water,” Tanny Bruns with Sioux Falls Animal Control said.
The geese present a potential danger to airline pilots and their passengers.
“Obviously with the airport being out there we don’t want any bird strikes with airplanes as they are landing or taking off,” Bruns said.
Sioux Falls Animal Control routinely tries to scare them away using cannons.
“We call them bird bangers, but pyrotechnics is probably the proper term they just make a very loud noise similar to a gunshot that would scare any geese off so instead being out by the airport maybe choose a different part of town that will be a little bit more safe for airplanes,” Bruns said.
More than 19,000 bird strikes were reported across the U.S. last year at more than 700 airports, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
Sioux Falls Animal Control wants to do its part to help bring those numbers down.
Wednesday the Game, Fish, and Parks and Sioux Falls Animal Control will use pyrotechnics and sound cannons to scare Canada geese away from the Sioux Falls Airport
