This is what is left after a 22,000 pound plane meets a 6 pound duck during a landing in Sacramento California. A sound like a door being slammed, everyone ducking, followed by an uneventful landing. The good news is the duck never knew what hit him and there was no damage to the plane. As usual, any event that ends well
and produces a good story is always welcome in my book!
At this point some of you may be asking: Rick what am I looking at here? The answer my friend is Snarge.
The residue smeared on an airplane after a bird/plane collision. The snarge is generally all that is left of the bird. Every day numerous samples are taken off of airplanes and sent in for DNA testing to help map out what kinds of birds are colliding with airplanes. Both the FFA and military have a vested interest in these results
Each day, the Smithsonian Institution's Feather Identification Laboratory receives about a dozen packages from around the country, each containing tissue swabs of snarge for DNA analysis to identify the species of bird. The bird/plane collision data is used to improve aviation safety by having flight plans that are less likely to encounter birds and by engineering more bird-resistant planes. For example, jet engines must now be able to withstand the ingestion of an 8-pound waterfowl without failing (this is tested in the lab by firing a chicken from a cannon at point-blank range).
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