Accident prompts call for new birdstrike regs

The NTSB issued recommendations that the FAA revise birdstrike certification requirements and more carefully monitor charter operators following the Board’

By Matt Thurber • Editor-in-Chief

October 1, 2009

The NTSB issued recommendations that the FAA revise birdstrike certification requirements and more carefully monitor charter operators following the Board’s determination of the probable cause of a
birdstrike crash in Oklahoma City last year. The crash occurred on March 4, 2008, about two minutes after a Cessna Citation 500 registered to Southwest Orthopedic & Sports Medicine took off from Wiley Post Airport. According to the NTSB, “The probable cause of the 2008 crash…was airplane wing-structure damage sustained during impact with one or more large birds…which resulted in a loss of control of the airplane.” All on board–two pilots and three passengers– were killed in the crash.

In its investigation of the accident, the NTSB found that the Citation collided “with a flock of American white pelicans, which far exceeded the airframe’s design certification limit.” The Safety Board also claimed it found that the operator was conducting an illegal charter with the Citation. “At the time of the accident, Interstate Helicopters was operating the accident airplane in commercial service contrary to its [FAA]-issued…Part 135 operating certificate, which, at the time, did not authorize operation of the accident airplane or any other fixed-wing aircraft.”

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