b-2 stealth crash on guam, who's going to take the fall??

[T2 Ernie]

One of my old squadron's C-130s took a bald eagle hit on a low-level in the leading edge of the wing which caused a bleed air leak, throttle cable damage that caused one engine to run away and nearly a second engine on the same side. The crew acted quickly and shut down the runaway engine with the fire handle and secured the bleed air leak which could have melted the wing off. Bottom line is a single birdstrike in the right place can be the golden BB.

No doubt - there's always the golden BB!! Could easily see a leading edge impact/bleed air turning ugly quickly!

Still, only the E3 in Alaska has been lost (against a full-on flock of Canadian geese) to birdstrike (for large aircraft)...

[tom d. friedman]

all this bird strike talk has me wanting to get a bucket of greasy kfc chicken........ has there been any solid speculation as to a bird strike with the crashed b-2 ?? if so, can't ornithologists help prevent strikes?? remember the hitchcock movie "the birds"??

[warbird1]

all this bird strike talk has me wanting to get a bucket of greasy kfc chicken........ has there been any solid speculation as to a bird strike with the crashed b-2 ?? if so, can't ornithologists help prevent strikes?? remember the hitchcock movie "the birds"??

No solid speculation, only a wild guess - just one of MANY possibilities. It's just extremely unusual for 4 engine airplanes to crash for any reason.

The Air Force does have a bird risk mitigation program, but it mainly revolves around pireps of bird reports and avoiding takeoff's and landings during periods of increased activity, such as during migration periods, and avoiding flying low over water sources. Birds can't be avoided entirely, but you can lessen your chances of a strike considerably by flying smarter. There have been lots of experiments with trying to scare birds away from everything including scarecrows, releasing natural predators such as falcons and hawks, noise guns and various other methods. All of them involve some amounts of success, but I don't think any method has been 100% successful.

Birds are one of the largest threats out there to jet aircraft! This is especially true for airplanes that fly fast and fly low, such as air-to-ground fighters and bombers.

[corsairdude]

For your info, as recently as last week, a Pilatus PC-7 trainer from the Uruguay Air Force, crashed after hitting a large stork. Pieces of the bird were found inside the cockpit and both, pilot and student were killed.

[51fixer]

I remember Rick Brickert talk of his bird strike while flying ANG A-7. IIRC A buzzard came through the windshield and dislocated his left shoulder. He couldn't eject and managed to land using one arm to do everything in a damaged A/C.
Rich

[gary1954]

We had a B-1rd problem a few decades ago...they used shotguns, killed a lot of B-1rd's. Nothing phased them...some genious brought out a PA system, set up loud Speakers around, and played some Led Zepplin real loud. B-1rds left.

[Punisher05]

I might be able to add something to the discussion (I'm a bit late to it), because it's my job to do the wildlife control at the airport.

Usually, wildlife control consists of two forms: active and passive.

Passive control means making an airfield "inattractive" to wildlife, and not just the flying kind. This depends on what wildlife is native to the area; for example, long-legged birds like egrets don't like long grass. Keep the grass higher and the egrets don't show up. The down side is that European Starlings (which are called "flying bullets" because they're extremely dense and gather in large flocks) love long grass. Passive control also means getting rid of attractants, such as bodies of water and nesting areas.

Active control is more fun. Active control means explosions and shotguns. We have 15mm rockets that are quite similar to bottle rockets without the sticks. For more....invasive....problems, we have the option to use lethal force to remove the threat from the airfield.

Other airports have different solutions like propane cannons, sirens, sometimes even falconers. It all depends on what the problem is and how much $ they're willing to spend.

[warbird1]

We have 15mm rockets that are quite similar to bottle rockets without the sticks. For more....invasive....problems, we have the option to use lethal force to remove the threat from the airfield.

Ah, I see why you're called Punisher! You Punish the birds into submission! Sounds like fun!

[ZRX61]

Given the location of the crash.. & the rotation of the Earth I'd like to suggest it ingested a piece of space junk recently knocked into bite sized pieces by the USN...

[warbird1]

Given the location of the crash.. & the rotation of the Earth I'd like to suggest it ingested a piece of space junk recently knocked into bite sized pieces by the USN...

Since the crash was caused by the USN, does that mean it becomes USN property now and can't be recovered? Will they let it sit as is for 100's of years, so future archeaologists can see the metallic dust remains that used to be a B-2?

[snj5]

Given the location of the crash.. & the rotation of the Earth I'd like to suggest it ingested a piece of space junk recently knocked into bite sized pieces by the USN...

Since the crash was caused by the USN, does that mean it becomes USN property now and can't be recovered? Will they let it sit as is for 100's of years, so future archeaologists can see the metallic dust remains that used to be a B-2?

It looks to have crashed on the runway, and the AF NEVER lets anything close a runway very long, unless the president is getting a haircut.

[warbird1]

Given the location of the crash.. & the rotation of the Earth I'd like to suggest it ingested a piece of space junk recently knocked into bite sized pieces by the USN...

Since the crash was caused by the USN, does that mean it becomes USN property now and can't be recovered? Will they let it sit as is for 100's of years, so future archeaologists can see the metallic dust remains that used to be a B-2?

It looks to have crashed on the runway, and the AF NEVER lets anything close a runway very long, unless the president is getting a haircut.

I know, I was just joking based on the comment above. I said that in reference to how archaic and stupid the USN's policy is regarding anything they think they have control over.

[DoraNineFan]

More info on the possible cause:

ANN is reporting that B-2 pilot reported a fire on board and the aircraft began rolling to the right uncontrollably. The crew ejected moments before impact.

[tom d. friedman]

did the report say where the fire was located??

[DoraNineFan]

did the report say where the fire was located??

No, just that the pilot reported a fire and the aircraft rolled to the right.