Narrative:On departure from Cleveland the airplane's engines ingested a large number of gulls. Both engines flamed out and the crew attempted to carry out a forced landing. The Falcon collided with a fence and crash-landed in Lake Erie. The crew members were rescued by a boat. A total of 315 birds were found dead. The no. 1 engine compressor unit was 20% filled with the remains of birds, the no. 2 compressor was 17% filled.
Probable Cause:
PROBABLE CAUSES:
powerplant - miscellaneous: bird ingestion
personnel - traffic control personnel: failure to advise of unsafe airport conditions
FACTOR:
personnel - airport supervisory personnel: failure to notify of unsafe cond/and or failure to mark obstruction
Classification:
Bird strike
Ditching
Sources:
» Fatalities and Destroyed Civil Aircraft Due To Bird Strikes 1912-2002 / John Thorpe (International Bird Strike Committee ISBC26/WP-SA1)
» NTSB
Photos
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does
not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Cleveland-Burke Lakefront Airport, OH to Portland International Jetport, ME as the crow flies is 953 km (596 miles).
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.