1. Context Each year, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) receives accident and incident notifications from pilots, airlines, aerodrome personnel, air traffic control and others involved in the aviation industry. The reporting of these aviation accidents and incidents, collectively termed occurrences, assists the ATSB in monitoring safety through its core function of independent investigation and the analysis of data to identify emerging trends. The Transport Safety Investigation Regulations 2003 provide a list of matters reportable to the ATSB. One routine reportable matter has been a collision with an animal, including a bird, for: all air transport operations (all bird and animal strikes), and aircraft operations other than air transport operations when the strike occurs on a licensed aerodrome. In addition to the above, all accidents are immediately reportable to the ATSB, and all occurrences involving injury or difficulty controlling the aircraft (including from a bird or animal strike) are reportable matters for all operation types. A significant proportion of all occurrences reported to the ATSB involve aircraft striking wildlife, especially birds. Wildlife strikes represent an ongoing challenge to the aviation industry. Birds and other animals are hazards to aviation that will always be present and so need to be managed, both in terms of reducing the likelihood of a wildlife strike and reducing the consequences of strikes that occur. For the purposes of this report, birdstrikes refer to strikes from all flying animals, including bats and flying foxes, while animal strikes refer to strikes from all flightless animals, including flightless birds such as emus and cassowaries. This report provides aviation birdstrike and animal strike occurrence data for the period 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2015. It should be noted that some data may vary when compared with the previous Australian aviation wildlife strike statistics report from 2004 to 2013 due to ongoing quality improvements in ATSB data. The Australian aviation wildlife strike statistics report aims to give industry an insight into the number, locations, and types of wildlife strikes in Australia, and describe characteristics of the common birds and animals involved, and the consequences of these strikes. This is the fourth edition of this report. Chapters 3 to 7 detail birdstrike occurrences, while chapter 8 summarises animal strikes. In response to increasing industry interest, a new chapter was added to the last report (chapter 9) which summarises occurrences involving insects. Due to positive industry feedback and ongoing industry interest, this chapter has been retained for the current report.
1. Context Each year, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) receives accident and incident notifications from pilots, airlines, aerodrome personnel, air traffic control and others involved in the aviation industry. The reporting of these aviation accidents and incidents, collectively termed occurrences, assists the ATSB in monitoring safety through its core function of independent investigation and the analysis of data to identify emerging trends. The Transport Safety Investigation Regulations 2003 provide a list of matters reportable to the ATSB. One routine reportable matter has been a collision with an animal, including a bird, for: all air transport operations (all bird and animal strikes), and aircraft operations other than air transport operations when the strike occurs on a licensed aerodrome. In addition to the above, all accidents are immediately reportable to the ATSB, and all occurrences involving injury or difficulty controlling the aircraft (including from a bird or animal strike) are reportable matters for all operation types. A significant proportion of all occurrences reported to the ATSB involve aircraft striking wildlife, especially birds. Wildlife strikes represent an ongoing challenge to the aviation industry. Birds and other animals are hazards to aviation that will always be present and so need to be managed, both in terms of reducing the likelihood of a wildlife strike and reducing the consequences of strikes that occur. For the purposes of this report, birdstrikes refer to strikes from all flying animals, including bats and flying foxes, while animal strikes refer to strikes from all flightless animals, including flightless birds such as emus and cassowaries. This report provides aviation birdstrike and animal strike occurrence data for the period 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2015. It should be noted that some data may vary when compared with the previous Australian aviation wildlife strike statistics report from 2004 to 2013 due to ongoing quality improvements in ATSB data. The Australian aviation wildlife strike statistics report aims to give industry an insight into the number, locations, and types of wildlife strikes in Australia, and describe characteristics of the common birds and animals involved, and the consequences of these strikes. This is the fourth edition of this report. Chapters 3 to 7 detail birdstrike occurrences, while chapter 8 summarises animal strikes. In response to increasing industry interest, a new chapter was added to the last report (chapter 9) which summarises occurrences involving insects. Due to positive industry feedback and ongoing industry interest, this chapter has been retained for the current report.