Image: © Ugurhan Betin | iStockphoto
Some 22,372 wildlife strikes on aircraft were reported in the United States in 2024, 14 percent more than the 19,628 strikes reported in 2023, according to a report by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Agriculture Department Wildlife Services office.
The report, issued in June, contained an analysis of data from the National Wildlife Strike Database for 1990 through 2024. In that 35-year period, 319,047 wildlife strikes were reported internationally, with 313,716 strikes of those involving civil and military aircraft in the United States. Internationally, at least 643 people were killed and more than 360 aircraft were destroyed; those numbers include 82 deaths and 126 destroyed aircraft in the United States, the report said.
The report said the year-to-year increases in wildlife strikes resulte…
