{"id":30308,"date":"2019-05-23T17:12:47","date_gmt":"2019-05-23T17:12:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/05\/23\/this-is-the-hefty-toll-bird-strikes-have-inflicted-on-the-air-force-since-1995\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T20:54:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T20:54:17","slug":"this-is-the-hefty-toll-bird-strikes-have-inflicted-on-the-air-force-since-1995","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2019\/05\/23\/this-is-the-hefty-toll-bird-strikes-have-inflicted-on-the-air-force-since-1995\/","title":{"rendered":"This is the hefty toll bird strikes have inflicted on the Air Force since 1995"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Over the past 24 years, aircraft flown by the Air Force have sustained more than 100,000 bird strikes<\/a>, according to data provided by the service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And those 105,586 wildlife strikes since 1995 have inflicted a hefty toll<\/a>. The Air Force has lost 13 aircraft due and recorded 27 deaths due to strikes in that period, according to Josh Aycock, spokesman for the Air Force Safety Center at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The total cost of these strikes<\/a>, excluding the cost of injuries: $817,546,884.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The effect of such wildlife strikes can be seen in a photo posted on the unofficial Facebook page Air Force amn\/nco\/snco<\/a> earlier this month. The picture shows the grisly remains of a hawk wedged into the structure of an F-16 from the 49th Wing at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. The hawk struck the F-16 during a routine landing there on April 17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

49th Wing spokeswoman 2nd Lt. Jasmine Manning identified that bird as a Swainson\u2019s hawk<\/a> in an email to Marine Corps Times earlier this month. Manning said that after a bird strike occurs, its remains are sent to the Smithsonian to classify the bird and figure out how it was struck.<\/p>\n\n\n\t