A Japanese Coast Guard Bombardier DHC-8-315, with a crew of nine, was scheduled to operate a maritime patrol flight on the 18th of January 2012. The flight would take-off from Okinawa-Naha Airport (OKA/ROAH) and after a patrol flight over the East China Sea, would fly to Ishigaki Airport (ISG/ROIG) as its destination.
Shortly after take-off the aircraft made a left turn It was at that time, while close to Kitakojima Island, that the crew observed four birds, approximately 100 meters ahead. There was not enough time to avoid the birds, and at 17.11 lt. (local time) the aircraft impacted at least one of the birds. At the time of the bird-strike the aircraft was flying at altitude of 1000 feet with a speed of 170 knots.
While checking for damage the Pilot in Command could see some feathers and also observed the left Nose Compartment door floating up in the airflow. As structural damage was suspected the mission objective (Maritime Patrol) was aborted and course was set for its planned destination Ishigaki Airport (ISG/ROIG). During the reminder of the flight the left-hand air speed indicator fluctuated, substantially more than the right-hand air speed indicator. Other aircraft systems (Flight Control System, Engine and Electric Systems etc.) operated normally during the flight. An uneventful landing at Ishigaki Airport was made at 18:04 lt. There were no injuries to any of the crew members, the aircraft sustained substantial damage.
The Bird-strike was investigated by the Japan Transport Safety Board (JTSB), who published their Aircraft Accident Investigation report 11 months after the occurrence. The damaged area on the aircraft was approximately 60 cm long by 90 cm wide. Structural damage was found on the following areas;
Radome Bulkhead, curved backwards
Glide Slope Antenna support, bent backwards
Fuselage frame 7, deformed in to a V-shape
The bird remains were analysed and it was determined that a Masked Booby (Sula dactylatra) had struck the aircraft, The bird had a wing-span of 140 cm (55 in), was 90 cm long (35 in) and had weighed approximately 1,3 kg (~2,8 lbs)
The weather, the crew and the aircraft systems were determined not to have been involved in the cause of the bird-strike. The JTSB described the Probable Cause of the accident as follows;
"In this accident the airplane sustained damage due to bird strike at 1,000 ft during marine patrol flight near Kitakojima island.
In response to this accident, the Promotion Administration of Aviation Safety, JCG, informed Regional Coast Guard Headquarters and other pertinent offices of the event to raise the awareness against bird strike on February 1, 2012. The JTSB report, which served as the source for this blog can be accessed by clicking on the .pdf file below;
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