I took this picture on Feb. 5, 2011. This US Airways A330, just departed from Rome Fiumicino airport’s runway 25, seems to be surrounded by birds. Can you spot them in the picture? Most probably just a visual effect caused by the zoom (400mm lens) but interesting since birdstrikes (or more in general, significant impacts with animals) are somehow rare in commercial aviation but pose a threat especially during take off and landing phases as often discussed on this blog.
David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.
I took this picture on Feb. 5, 2011. This US Airways A330, just departed from Rome Fiumicino airport’s runway 25, seems to be surrounded by birds. Can you spot them in the picture? Most probably just a visual effect caused by the zoom (400mm lens) but interesting since birdstrikes (or more in general, significant impacts with animals) are somehow rare in commercial aviation but pose a threat especially during take off and landing phases as often discussed on this blog.