Report on

Yakobi, V.E.( 1980): [Migrations and night flights of swifts (Apus apus) (by the data of analysis of their collisions with planes)] (Russian, Engl. summary). Zoologichesky Zhurnal 59: 472-473

(APUSlist No. 0179)

by IGOR FEFELOV

The following note describes collisions between Common Swifts and aircraft in the USSR. The earliest record of damage to an aircraft by Swifts was on 5 May 1975 on a flight from Alma-Ata to Tashkent. Others examples are:

A morning incident on 21 May 1977 in Bukhara during take off;

A night incident on 14 June 1974 at an altitude of 3000 km as an aircraft was making its descent to Tashkent;

On 23 June 1973, an aircraft on its way to Rostov-on-Don (probably at a considerable height);

On 26 July 1970, during the evening, at 3000 m near Pitsunda (Abkhasia, Georgia);

On 30 July 1976 midday a plane about to land at Domodedovo (Moscow);

On 21 August 1974 at 16:42 (local time) as aircraft at 1200 m, near Mineral'nye Vody (Stavropol Krai);

On 1 September 1975 at 22:15 between Samarkand and Dushanbe.

Two records that of collisions in Gomel (Byelorussia) 5 October 1977 and 10 November 1977 when swifts are known to be departing from the territory of the USSR. In both cases, the birds were found only some days after the collisions. In the first case, the accident probably occurred after a flight from Minsk-Gomel at ca 20-21 hours in darkness and at an altitude of 3000 m. In the second case, it was probably occurred during a flight from Moscow to Gomel' in the evening (at about 18-19 h) and in darkness. In both cases there were warm cyclones after a substantial drop in temperature in Gomel.