Risk Management Magazine

Striking a 150-pound deer with your vehicle can cause substantial damage, maybe even resulting in a total loss. Now imagine what a 5-pound bird impacting an aircraft traveling at 120 knots or greater can do.

My co-pilot and I were on the final leg of a three-leg mission. We’d taken off from Barranquilla on the northern coast and were flying south to Bogota. Just about halfway along the 1.5-hour route at 26,000 feet, I looked out my right-side window and noticed streaks of fluid around the No. 2 engine.

It is critical for aviation safety officers and instructor pilots to familiarize aircrews with mission-specific hazards and effective aircrew coordination during aircrew calls and safety days.