Air shows and demonstration flying displays create particularly vulnerable flying conditions for display pilots and their aircraft. High-tempo operations and low-level flying, often in formation, make them especially susceptible to bird strikes.
These strikes can have severe consequences, including reduced recovery handling, loss of aerodynamics at low altitudes and high speeds, and heightened risk of stalling or cascading effects if wildlife strikes occur during banking, rolling, and turnback manoeuvres. Wildlife strike susceptibility and consequences during airshows vary significantly across aerobatic manoeuvres due to the varying altitudes, speeds, and aerodynamic forces involved.
Depending on their altitudes, speeds, and aerodynamic forces, aerobatic manoeuvres during airshows vary in their susceptibility to wildlife strikes. Manoeuvres such as Cobra, Hammerhead, and spins are particularly susceptible to high consequence strikes.
Managing wildlife strike risks at airshows is particularly challenging compared to standard wildlife strike management practices focused on landing and take-offs. The critical airspace to monitor and manage is distinct from standard approach and departure patterns, and airshow operations over spectators heighten the consequences of any incident.
In the past five years, strikes with military and civil aircraft at airshows or demonstration flying events have resulted in crashes. Some have resulted in death.
The Red Arrows, the UK’s Royal Air Force premier demonstration team, were performing at Rhyl in Wales on 28 August 2022, when Red 6, piloted by Squadron Leader Gregor Ogtson, had a close encounter of the avian kind, as Ogston told the BBC:
‘I was running down the display line at about 400mph pointing at Red 7, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a seagull.
‘I pretty much closed my eyes and ducked at that point because it was so close and the bird hit the canopy, which unfortunately shattered and the bird and lots of canopy flew into the cockpit,” he said.
‘I was almost flying blind for a couple of seconds,” he added. The seagull also gave a ‘glancing blow’ to the side of Ogtson’s helmet, badly damaging it.
The impact to his helmet tore off his mask, making it difficult to communicate what had happened. ‘To transmit on the radio, I had to use my left hand to push the button – my right hand to hold the mask to my face because it was no longer attached to my helmet and that left me flying the aircraft with my knees briefly,’ Ogston explained. He managed to manoeuvre the aircraft away from the crowd and land safely at a nearby aerodrome.
A member of the Royal Canadian Air Force display team, the Snowbirds, was not as lucky in 2020. The Royal Canadian Air Force’s (RCAF’s) Directorate of Flight Safety investigation concluded that the ‘ingestion of a small bird into a Canadair CT-114 Tutor jet’s engine caused the aircraft to crash in May 2020’. The crash killed Captain Jenn Casey, who was a passenger in the CT-114, which crashed into a residential area.
According to the report: ‘the aircraft, Snowbird 11, had just taken off, and was about to begin an aerial demonstration near Kamloops, British Columbia. It suffered a compressor stall and a loss of thrust’.
‘Snowbird 11’s power loss could not have come at a worse time – low altitude, low airspeed, proximity to another aircraft, and in the vicinity of a built-up area,’ Colonel John Alexander, director of flight safety with the RCAF, said on the release of the report.
It is well documented that most bird strikes occur at low levels – 50-60% at between ground and 50 feet, and 30% at 50-500 feet. The strike on Snowbird 11 occurred at 180 feet.
How do you ensure effective risk mitigation of birdstrike hazards in airshow planning?
- Make wildlife control teams part of the organising team and actively involve them in discussions about the airshow program. Provide these wildlife teams with detailed information about aircraft operations, formation departures, aerobatic manoeuvres, and designated areas. This enables effective observation and timely responses to bird activity.
- Assess the wildlife hazard thoroughly during pre-event planning to identify and mitigate risks. Undertake dispersal efforts to minimise wildlife presence in the vicinity of the airfield before the event. Include wildlife teams in all training and briefing sessions. This allows them to prepare for show day and ensure proactive airspace protection, including real-time bird monitoring and dispersal during rehearsals.
- Use real-time monitoring tools and services, such as radar or wildlife management officers, to track bird movements during the event and provide immediate updates to pilots and organisers. Brief pilots on identified wildlife hotspots, potential hazards, and recommended evasive actions to enhance situational awareness. Manage airspace to prioritise zones with minimal bird activity and avoid overlap with migratory corridors. Restrict or avoid high-risk manoeuvres in areas with increased wildlife presence or during defined risk periods.
- Allocate additional resources, such as personnel or equipment, to ensure adequate wildlife hazard coverage and responsiveness during the heightened risk period of the airshow.
Recent airshow birdstrikes
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