Wildlife Strikes to Civil Aircraft in the United States 1990-2012

In 2012, the FAA and USDA continued to make great progress with its multifaceted approach for mitigating wildlife strikes. The FAA ensured that 100 percent of Part 139 airports have completed a Wildlife Hazard Assessment (WHA), are in the process of conducting a WHA, or have taken a Federal grant to conduct a WHA. Strike reporting continued to increase, especially with General Aviation (GA) aircraft, which increased strike reporting by 11 percent between 2011 and 2012. The FAA implemented three performance metrics to monitor strike reporting trends and GA wildlife mitigation. The performance metrics include percentage of damaging strikes, strike reporting rates, and tracking of General Aviation (GA) airports that conduct WHAs and site visits. We also issued a final Advisory Circular (AC) on strike reporting and draft ACs on WHA methodology and requirements for federally obligated public airports to conduct WHAs.