When bird strikes happen, the aircraft are required to land as soon as possible and undergo a thorough inspection for damage to guarantee its airworthiness. Although usually benign, the occurrence needs to be addressed. Thus, performing a bird strike inspection is of crucial importance to assess the status of the aircraft besides the most affected parts – the wings or the engines. 

There are rare exceptions when an aircraft experiences the loss of thrust and subsequent ingestion of birds into the engine air intake. For instance, on 15 January 2009, a bird strike caused the engine failure on an Airbus A320 while taking off from LaGuardia Airport in New York, leading to its ditching in the Hudson River. Generally, a lesser hazard, bird strikes can still have a significant impact on the airlines’ operations.