Regarding the newest tragedy in New York, one of the theories being presented is that a bird(s) got sucked into the engine. Specifically, the New York Times says
“Most of the incidents at Kennedy happened at Runway 31L, where Flight 587 took off. Pilots using that runway reported 139 incidents, at least 62 of which involved gulls. Other animals included barn owls, larks, sparrows, homing pigeons, a peregrine falcon and a jackrabbit.”
What kind of Jackrabbit flies?
Well, huh. I thought you was funnin’ me, but the Washington Post has it, too.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A23402-2001Nov13.html
Note that the full squib doesn’t say “a plane crashed because of a jackrabbit”–it’s talking about animals being “hit” by aircraft, and it just says that there was an “incident” involving a jackrabbit and a plane on Runway 31L. That’s not necessarily in midair, or even off the ground.
But you really had me a-goin’ there for a minute. 
Perhaps a Jackrabbit being carried off by a peregrine falcon ? That fit’s the phrase used in the article: “a peregrine falcon and a jackrabbit.”
A 2 oz bird could not carry a 1 pound jackrabbit!
Sorry…I tried not to.
Still, even if the jet’s front wheels hit the thing straight on, I can’t see there being much of an ‘incident’. Hell, I’ve hit them with a car (sadly) and you barely notice it.
Female peregrines can weigh upwards of 2.5 pounds, and have a wingspan of ~ 1 meter. Baby rabbits, besides being very fuzzy, can also weigh 100 grams or less. Yes, it’s highly improbable, but I’m thinking that a falcon startled by seeing a 747 barreling towards it at 150 mph might not take the time to loosen its grip on its prey before attempting to get out of the way :eek: !
Sorry, Sqwink, it was a Monty Python reference.
Still, I’d hate to have the job of trying to figure out what kind of animal a 90 gram rabbit was after it had been through the jet fins. Yech!
Sorry - Squink.
And I previewed!
Just say nee to typos !
Well, I’m assuming that by “incident” they mean that paperwork has to be filled out, even if all the jet did was flatten it with its tire. If the squished critter in question came over from a National Wildlife Refuge, there’s probably some Federal red tape that needs to be dealt with. And then there’s PETA. I dunno. [sigh]
I have no trouble believing that a rabbit could get sucked into an engine on a 737. I always marvel that they don’t have little skids under them to keep from scraping off the cowling on a rough landing. They are low.
There’s surely some error there, as jackrabbits don’t occur in New York State. Cottontail rabbits and European and Snowshoe hares, but not jackrabbits.
Most likely having to do with the incident reporter’s limited knowledge of indigenous wildlife. It hopped and had big ears, ergo, it was a jackrabbit, which sounds better than “cottontail”. The latter sounds like you’re squishing characters from kiddy stories. Quite likely, the remains of the critter, if retrieved, did not allow precise taxonomy either.
Actually, they do have some structural reinforcement there for that reason. Notice also that the bottom of the inlet is flattened a little for ground clearance, which is not good for engine performance, but all designs are compromises. The accessory gearbox is swung around 45 degrees to the side, too, even though it would be happier on the bottom.
I have a copy of an incident report where a 737 engine was destroyed by hitting a horse, taking off from an unfenced airport in Argentina.
Grammatical note:
There is no comma after “falcon”, suggesting that they’re refering to one incident.
The jackrabbit was flying the plane.
Got it?
Good.
Hah! Score one for The Duck and her faithful sidekick, Google.
http://www.fieldtrip.com/ny/83184340.htm
http://training.fws.gov/library/pubs5/web_link/text/jb_form.htm
Heh.
[sub]i know, gloating is ugly[/sub]
Grammatical note:
There is no “and” before “falcon,” suggesting that they’re referring to two incidents. Also, a comma is not needed between the final two items of a list, although it’s perfectly acceptable to use one (which IIRC is called a “Boston Comma” or somesuch).
When I lived in the desert there were flying jackrabbits. They’d be flattend by cars, y’see, and when they dried in the hot desert sun you could use them as Frisbees™.
OK, OK, go ahead and gloat. I checked the New York State checklist, and it wasn’t there. However, the list is dated 1993, and only includes introduced species if there have been persistent records for the last 10 years. I assume this must have happened fairly recently, since I never saw any in the mid-80s when I spent a lot of time at Jamaica Bay and environs.