The rate of Australian aircraft hitting birds increased sharply in the last decade, with data Monday showing that even kangaroos, wombats and turtles are occasionally involved in accidents. An Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) report noted that more than 1,750 birdstrikes occurred in 2011, mostly involving “high capacity” aircraft which have more than 38 seats, compared with 780 in 2002. “For high capacity aircraft operations, reported bird strikes have increased from 400 to 980 over the last 10 years of study,” it said, giving these planes a strike rate of more than nine per 10,000 movements in 2011. Domestic aircraft such as Boeing 737s and Airbus A320s were the most likely to hit a bird, with take-off and landing the danger times, the report said. Bats or flying foxes are the creatures most commonly hit, while birds in the lapwing and plover families were also recurring victims along with the bright-pink galah cockatoo. Animal strikes were relatively rare, with hares and rabbits most likely to be involved, along with kangaroos, wallabies, dogs and foxes. Other animals to have been hit included echidnas, turtles which strayed onto runways and in one instance, an emu.
