The ability of aircraft engines to withstand collisions with large birds is a chief concern of federal safety investigators opening hearings Tuesday on the forced landing of a US Airways jet in the Hudson River.

National Transportation Safety Board member Robert Sumwalt, who will chair the three-day hearing, said the accident has made safety officials, the aviation industry and the public more aware of the growing likelihood of bird-plane collisions.

Another area of investigative focus will be the state of training for pilots on handling double-engine failure.

US Airways Flight 1549 had just taken off from LaGuardia Airport in New York on Jan. 15 and climbed to about 3,000 feet when the Airbus A320 hit a flock of Canada geese and lost thrust in both engines. Capt. Chesley Sullenberger ditched the plane into the Hudson rather than risk crashing in the densely populated area. All 155 people aboard survived.

In recent decades, many bird populations — including Canada geese — have rebounded thanks partly to environmental regulations. Air travel has also soared since deregulation in the late 1970s encouraged greater competition and lower fares.

The Federal Aviation Administration is testing bird-detecting radar that may help airports manage nearby bird populations. Some experts have also suggested aircraft engines should be designed to withstand bigger birds.

Newer engines on commercial airliners have to withstand an 8-pound bird, but Canada geese can weigh twice that.

Disrupting bird habitats close to airports would probably not have helped Flight 1549. An analysis of remains of Canada geese in the plane’s engines showed that they were migratory — perhaps from Labrador, Canada — not part of the Canada geese population that lives year-round in the New York area, according to the National Zoo’s Migratory Bird Center. Moreover, the plane-geese collision occurred several miles from the airport.

Another concern is whether the FAA and airlines need to revise emergency procedures for a double engine failure. Those procedures for pilots usually involve a checklist of many steps, and there are different checklists depending upon the problem. If the plane is flying at a high altitude — airliners typically cruise above 20,000 feet — pilots may have time to identify and correct the problem.

At a low altitude that’s more difficult. Flight 1549’s first officer, Jeffrey Skiles, has said he only made it part of the way through a checklist for restarting the engines before the forced landing.

Also on the NTSB’s agenda is to figure out who opened the door immediately after Flight 1549 glided to a near-perfect forced landing.

Had the door been opened wider, the Airbus A320 would likely have flooded and sank immediately, said one experienced crash investigator. Even the slight gap in the door caused passengers in the rear to struggle through rising water to get to safety.

(Source: WCBSTV)