Building a bird-proof jet

Before he orchestrated an unforgettable emergency landing on the Hudson River, Capt. Chesley Sullenberger radioed air traffic controllers to report a “double bird strike.” In pilot lingo, that means a flock of Canadian geese collided with the Airbus A320, disabling not one, but both jet engines. Wayward birds are sucked into airplane turbines all the time, but a “double bird strike” is such a rare occurrence that most aviation experts can’t even recall another case. For decades, engineers have tried to build a bird-proof engine (their tests include launching frozen poultry into the spinning blades) but a failsafe solution still doesn’t exist. Thankfully, Capt. Sullenberger does. The Wall Street Journal