A bald eagle may be to blame for the deaths of four people in a plane crash in Alaska last month, according to federal investigators.
The National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday announced the preliminary results of its investigation into the crash, which killed a former safety board investigator, 64-year-old George Kobelnyk, who was piloting the small passenger aircraft, according to the Alaska Dispatch newspaper.
The results showed bald eagle remains among the wreckage.
“During the course of the investigation, which is still ongoing, a foreign substance was discovered on the airframe of the accident airplane,” a statement from the safety board said. “A forensic analysis of the substance was completed by the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., and it was determined to contain feather particles of an immature bald eagle.
The plane had just taken off and was doing some low-flying maneuvers before it crashed.
The Federal Aviation Administration is in the midst of developing its latest wildlife threat management study, it announced Tuesday in the Federal Register. The study will be used to develop new rules to protect pilots from the dangers of wildlife strikes.
The FAA says wildlife strikes are the second leading cause of aviation-related fatalities.
The FAA has a special relationship with the Fish and Wildlife Service to ensure it accounts for endangered species. The bald eagle has been delisted as endangered, but it remains a protected animal under a separate law to protect the national bird, according to the agency.
