The Importance of Analyzing Snarge
The Smithsonian Institution’s Feather Identification Lab provides a vital, but largely unseen, service to aviation. They analyze the DNA left from bird strikes, which come in the form of “bloody goo” they call “snarge.” The DNA tells them the species of bird, which enables the formation of statistical and other data about bird strikes, which cause an average of 163 injuries and nine deaths per year (not including the military).
Sometimes, however, the “snarge” isn’t of bird origin – they’ve learned that airplanes have struck frogs, turtles, snakes, cats and rabbits (usually prey dropped by birds).
If you want to learn more about all this, you can take advantage of what is essentially the NTSB of birds strikes – the Avian Hazard Advisory System (AHAS).
Related Stories
POSTED IN: aviation
0 opinions for The Importance of Analyzing Snarge
No one has left a comment yet. You know what this means, right? You could be first!
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: