Nearly 70,000 birds have been killed in a bid to make flight paths safer for New York City area planes since 2009 — but it doesn’t appear to have reduced bird strikes. At Kennedy airport, which routinely killed birds before Sullenberger’s crash because it’s on a major migration route, the number of reported strikes has also increased — though the number of birds killed has dropped slightly. Of the 70,000 birds killed, 28,000 were seagulls, 16,800 were European starlings, 6,000 were brown-headed cowbirds and 4,500 were mourning doves. The encounter took out two engines and Sullenberger was forced to land — safely — in the Hudson River. More than 255 people have been killed worldwide because of bird strikes since 1988.

Source: Huffington Post January 15, 2017 06:15 UTC