MD-11 flight crew reported flying through a large flock of birds during takeoff. Flight crew returned to departure airport and landed as a precaution after striking over 130 birds.
Synopsis
MD-11 flight crew reported flying through a large flock of birds during takeoff. Flight crew returned to departure airport and landed as a precaution after striking over 130 birds.
Narrative
We were advised of bird activity and noticed what appeared to be a large flock of small to medium birds more like a swarm just West of the intersection of XXR and XY.There was a strong wind 220/250 at about 20kts. After a short delay to allow the swarm to pass we were given Takeoff clearance. The wind blew the swarm well East of the runway. I advanced the throttles and began the takeoff roll.The takeoff progressed normally until just after V1. A new; previously unseen and very large flock of birds (again appearing to swarm) took off just North of the Ramp. The wind blowing this new swarm directly into our flight path. The FO called Rotate and I responded with BIRDS!I attempted to slightly over rotate to avoid impact but with our mains still on the ground to 20 altitude I was limited on pitch availability to avoid a tail strike.We impacted what I assumed to be at least 30 birds (later identified to 138 birds) to about 160-170kts. The sound was quite impressive. I know that these engines are tested for ingestion but I was quite positive that the sheer volume of this ingestion event was sure to result in multiple engine failures. We were both thinking of imminent engine failures; possible hydraulic failures due to exposed hydraulic lines with the gear down; and with the amount of gore on the windshield and clear view windows pitot static failures.We reported the event to tower; and I started pitching for 230 in the event of two engines inoperative and looking for a place to land.After 30-45 seconds with normal engine indications and altitude and airspeed increasing; we started with system cross reference checks. Hydraulics were holding and all pitot static systems seemed to check. We started discussing a return; with all systems operating we continued the departure and started to contact flight control.I transferred control of the aircraft and COMM1 to the FO and I started trying to secure communications with flight control on COMM2. After several attempts communications were established; I relayed what had occurred and our concerns. I know maintenance has close to real time telemetry on the aircraft and wanted to know what they could see reference to engines and other systems. After several minutes it was agreed to return to ZZZ.The return was uneventful.The skill and professionalism displayed by the FO played a critical role in the successful completion of this event.After safely securing the aircraft back in ZZZ; looking at the damage; reflecting on what could have happened I determined I was unfit to continue.I was disappointed with the companies handling of this. There should be a clear and concise procedure for dealing with crew members who have just endured a critical high intensity and possibly life ending event. We are inundated with safety first content; but not so much in safety first action. The situation became adversarial immediately. I was told to go into minimum rest and would be Reserve. This [is] not how any event should be handled.
Second reporter narrative
It was a normal business day in ZZZ; we had no concerns anomalies or issues prior to the incident. We had a normal preflight pushback and taxi to runway XXR until we were asked to line up and wait on runway XXR. ATC had reports of a small flock of birds in the vicinity of the airport. We saw a big flock of birds right before getting the takeoff clearance and they went away after we spooled up the engines. It was a normal takeoff roll until I called VR and the captain rotated the airplane. He followed by BIRDS which quickly got my attention. I then looked up and started hearing the loud bangs from many; many birds hitting the airplane. We could clearly feel and see multiple bird strikes on the windshield and on the clear view windows but we didn't know yet that we had just hit more than 130 birds during takeoff. We then were having a normal climb out to altitude and all systems were operating normally with no unusual airframe vibrations or system malfunctions. At approximately 10;000 ft the captain made a great point and said maybe we should call the company see what they think. They took a few minutes but then they decided to have us do an air return and bring the airplane back to ZZZ so they could inspect the airplane. We were asked about [requesting priority handling] by ATC; which we respectfully declined since the airplane was behaving normally; and we had no indications of any systems malfunctioning. We started to head back towards ZZZ; our descent; approach; and landing were normal and uneventful. The captain managed the situation incredibly well and was calm. We were told by the tower; after landing; that the airplane looked like we had been shot by a red paintball machine gun. We continued to taxi to the Ramp from runway XXL. We had to land on that runway due to runway XXR being cleaned for FOD (Foreign Object Debris); aka dead birds.We then realized the significance of the incident. We were extremely lucky that the airplane didn't get any serious damage at all and we were spared of something terrible happening. Adrenaline was flowing at this time when we realized how lucky we were. Operations; as well as Maintenance; were meeting the aircraft and they were incredibly helpful towards us. We got the support that we needed right away at the airplane. Ops made sure we were ok and he mentioned that he would be in full support of any decision we made to either continue the day or be done for the day. After a small conversation as a crew; the captain and I both chose the safer course of action which was; after what we endured just a few minutes ago and the realization that it could have had a much more severe outcome; our adrenaline being quite high; we as a crew both decided not to continue and to call in Fatigued. Safety being our number one concern as always as pilots.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.