CHARLOTTE -- Bird strikes are considered the number one danger in the aviation industry.
Last year, there were 129 bird strikes at Charlotte-Douglas International Airport during take-off or landings. That's basically one every three days.
The State Department of Transportation is working with airport officials to keep the runways bird-free in a humane way.
"Birds really can be harmful to planes taking off and landing, I never realized how many accidents happen in the air with birds hitting planes," said Chase Aiken-Brown, an associate engineer with the state.
At Charlotte-Douglas more than 900 bird strikes have been reported in the last past decade. Numbers from there go down dramatically.
Raleigh-Durham reported 36 strikes last year. PTI saw 19 and Wilmington 12.
Visit these links for more information:
-http://wildlifecenter.pr.erau.edu/databaseQuery/strikesByAirport.php
-http://wildlifecenter.pr.erau.edu/databaseQuery/submit_i.php?prestate=NC&prespecies=0