https://tube.blueben.net/videos/watch/f38ab238-f376-43a7-bb88-bb210b0d96c2 Way back at the dawn of aviation, during a public flight exhibition of all things, a gull jammed a plane’s controls, crashing the plane and killing the pilot. Today, there are thousands of commercial airliners – and billions of birds – in the sky at any given time, so it seems like they should run into each other all the time. So why don’t birds cause more plane crashes? LEARN MORE To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: Aviation: The design, manufacture, and operation of aircraft — and, more broadly, the practice of mechanical flight itself, from a single-seat glider to a transcontinental airliner., Shrapnel: Fragments scattered by the explosion of a shell, bomb, or mine; loosely, any of the broken pieces thrown off by a violent blast., SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH If you like what we do, you can help us!: Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth, Our merch: store.dftba.com/me, Our book: https://minuteearth.com/books, Sign up to our newsletter: http://news.minuteearth.com, Share this video with your friends and family, Leave us a comment (we read them!), CREDITS Cameron Duke | Script Writer, Narrator and Director Arcadi Garcia i Rius | Storyboard Artist Sarah Berman | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation Nathaniel Schroeder | Music MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info OUR STAFF Lizah van der Aart • Sarah Berman • Cameron Duke Arcadi Garcia i Rius • David Goldenberg • Melissa Hayes Henry Reich • Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida OUR LINKS Youtube | https://youtube.com/MinuteEarth TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minuteearth Twitter | https://twitter.com/MinuteEarth Instagram | https://instagram.com/minute_earth Facebook | https://facebook.com/Minuteearth Website | https://minuteearth.com Apple Podcasts| https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minuteearth/id649211176 REFERENCES DeTect, Inc. (n.d.). Aircraft birdstrike avoidance radar. https://detect-inc.com/aircraft-birdstrike-avoidance-radar/ DeVault, T. L., Blackwell, B. F., Seamans, T. W., & Belant, J. L. (2016). Identification of off airport interspecific avian hazards to aircraft. Journal of Wildlife Management, 80(4), 746–752. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2811&context=icwdm_usdanwrc Federal Aviation Administration. (2015, July 20). Bird strike requirements for transport category airplanes. U.S. Department of Transportation. https://www.regulations.gov/document/FAA-2015-2490-0001 Federal Aviation Administration. (2025, July 28). No fowl play: How wildlife strike mitigation helps ensure safe skies. https://www.faa.gov/blog/clearedfortakeoff/no-fowl-play-how-wildlife-strike-mitigation-helps-ensure-safe-skies Federal Aviation Administration. (2026, August). Wildlife strikes to civil aircraft in the United States, 1990–2025 (Serial Report No. 32). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services. https://www.faa.gov/airports/airport_safety/wildlife/wildlife-strike-report-1990-2024 Harris, R. E., & Davis, R. A. (1998). Evaluation of the efficacy of products and techniques for airport bird control. LGL Limited, prepared for Transport Canada, Aerodrome Safety Branch. https://royalcanadianfalconry.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Efficanccy-of-products-and-meathods-for-BASH.pdf Johnson, K. (2022, September 27). FAA researching UV LED lights for prevention of increasing bird strikes. FLYING Magazine. Keeping birds out of jet engines: Failure testing and feather studies combine to keep air travelers safe. (n.d.). American Scientist. https://www.americanscientist.org/article/keeping-birds-out-of-jet-engines Liu, J., et al (2017). A novel design for reinforcing the aircraft tail leading edge structure against bird strike. International Journal of Impact Engineering, 105, 89–101. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0734743X16310995 Lunn, R. B., et al (2025). Light tuned to the avian eye elicits early detection and escape from an approaching aircraft. Royal Society Open Science, 12(6), Article 250047. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12133346/ Nilsson, C., et al (2021). Bird strikes at commercial airports explained by citizen science and weather radar data. Journal of Applied Ecology, 58(10), 2029–2039. https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1365-2664.13971 Ryan, M. (2025, August 26). FAA data shows wildlife strikes on the rise. AVweb. https://avweb.com/aviation-news/wildlife-strikes-growing-more-common/ Vaishnav, T. (2024, October 31). Collisions between planes and birds follow seasonal patterns and overlap with breeding and migration – new research. The Conversation. 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