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Airports with the most strikes
- Denver Intl Airport11,895
- Dallas/Fort Worth Intl Airport9,148
- Chicago O'hare Intl Airport7,531
- John F Kennedy Intl6,790
- Memphis Intl5,608
- Salt Lake City Intl4,461
- Sacramento Intl4,442
- Detroit Metro Wayne County Airport4,419
- Hartsfield - Jackson Atlanta Intl Airport4,398
- Orlando Intl4,349
- George Bush Intercontinental/ Houston Airport3,918
- Charlotte/Douglas Intl Airport3,826
Species struck most often
- Mourning dove18,520
- Barn swallow12,016
- Killdeer11,727
- American kestrel10,787
- Horned lark10,292
- Gulls7,715
- European starling7,186
- Eastern meadowlark5,505
- Rock pigeon4,861
- Red-tailed hawk4,624
- Sparrows4,436
- Cliff swallow3,931
By year
- 202610,999
- 202524,458
- 202422,370
- 202319,624
- 202217,223
- 202115,641
- 202011,627
- 201917,345
- 201816,204
- 201714,753
- 201613,378
- 201513,776
- 201413,690
- 201311,406
- 201210,937
- 201110,112
- 20109,901
- 20099,509
- 20087,640
- 20077,750
- 20067,294
- 20057,272
- 20046,612
- 20035,992
- 20026,223
- 20015,829
- 20006,028
- 19995,118
- 19983,808
- 19973,560
- 19963,031
- 19952,827
- 19942,707
- 19932,625
- 19922,652
- 19912,515
- 19902,120
Notable strikes
- 2009-01-04 · SIKORSKY S-76 · Red-tailed hawk · Destroyed · 8 fatal
Id by smithsonian, FAA 3015. DNA match. A/c crashed in a marsh near morgan city, la. NTSB investigated. Both pilots and six of seven passengers on board were killed. One person was criticaly injured. A/c deptd lake palourde base heliport in amelia, la en…
- 2008-03-04 · C-500 · American white pelican · Destroyed · 5 fatal
Id by smithsonian, FAA 2359. 100% DNA match sample d, 99.63% DNA match sample c and no DNA in samples a & b. Residue from the rt horizontal and vertical stabilizer was collected and sent to the smithsonian. (data entry note: # seen not reptd, just flock of…
- 2016-04-20 · C-172 · Bald eagle · Destroyed · 4 fatal
Possible bird snarge recovered from tail structure following the accident. The included feather was located in a small sampling near the initial impact point through the trees and first pieces of debris.ID by Smithsonian, Division of Birds. Final NTSB ID…
- 2018-07-13 · C-172 · American white pelican · Destroyed · 3 fatal
NTSB Accident Number: WPR18FA195 FINAL. Operator/owner moody bible institute of chicago taken directly from the above referenced NTSB report: Maneuvering Birdstrike (Defining event) Maneuvering Loss of control in flight Maneuvering Part(s) separation…
- 2024-01-20 · BELL-206 · Cackling goose · Destroyed · 3 fatal
Medical transport. Air evac ems inc. NTSB Accident Number: CEN24FA094. Final NTSB report. Online report entered by Smithsonian based on paper 5200-7 submitted by NTSB. Remarks based on preliminary NTSB report and Smithsonian report: One goose was imbedded…
- 2017-11-19 · BELL-407 · Snow goose · Destroyed · 3 fatal
Two or more bird impacts to helicopter. 3 fatal accident. Snow Goose - 11 bags of remains received from FAA. All equal Snow Goose NTSB accident number CEN18FA033 final report issued 11.5.2018 6.2.26 PER RD add to Remarks: Medical transport. The air ambulance…
- 1998-03-04 · PA-23 APACHE · Unknown bird - medium · Destroyed · 2 fatal
NTSB revised report in 2006. Can t confirm birdstrike. Witness saw vertical stabilizer begin to oscillate & separate from a/c. Plane descended & hit a mult family dwelling. Exam of wreckage revealed outbd wing panels had separated from the a/c by being bent…
- 2017-06-27 · EXPERIMENTAL · Rock pigeon · Destroyed · 2 fatal
Si id one of the five bags submitted for id contained feathers from rock pigeon. Note: assume parts struck were windshield and tail because feathers found in cockpit and remains embedded on dent in right horizontal stabilizer. Assume at least 2 birds. 2…
Research paper: our open aggregation of these reports (1990–2025), with damage rates by animal family, aircraft model, and airport, is published with a citable DOI — dataset & paper on Zenodo, and as a preprint on arXiv:2608.12390. Read the analysis: the species struck most often are not the ones that damage aircraft.
Source: FAA National Wildlife Strike Database · United States Government public domain. Strike counts reflect voluntary reporting and traffic volume, not relative safety.