Flight crew arrived at the aircraft to discover that the CRJ200 had obviously been involved in a bir...

Narrative:

Upon arrival at the aircraft; I found the first officer's forward windshield covered in blood; guts; and feathers from an obvious bird strike. The maintenance log did not contain any write-up for a bird strike and upon investigation I received conflicting information on exactly what had been reported and by whom. When maintenance control was contacted; I was informed that it was the crew's responsibility to determine if any damage was done; and if so; to write it up. Otherwise; the crews were instructed to 'clean it up.' I found this procedure to be somewhat odd in that I have never received any instruction in determining possible bird strike damage and; therefore; would be unable to determine 'any and all' damage that would be possible from a bird strike. Maintenance informed me that this procedure had 'always' been in place and was in the operations manual. Whereupon; I informed maintenance control that I had been here 20 yrs and had never heard of such a thing; so I seriously doubted that it had 'always' been in place. I could not find any instructions in the operations manual regarding a bird strike policy or procedure for determining damage. I wrote up the bird strike and had maintenance do the inspection. If this is a procedure to be followed; I would expect some kind of training or guidance for the pilots to determine if any damage may have occurred. I would also expect that the crew in charge of an aircraft when the bird strike occurred would also be responsible for verifying that the inspection was completed and the residual cleaned before leaving the aircraft; or a maintenance write-up be placed in the books to ensure that an inspection was completed. At no time should an aircraft ever be left with obvious bird strike debris and no indication that someone has taken the necessary steps to ensure that the aircraft is safe to operate.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLT CREW ARRIVED AT THE ACFT TO DISCOVER THAT THE CRJ200 HAD OBVIOUSLY BEEN INVOLVED IN A BIRD STRIKE. NO ACTION HAD BEEN TAKEN TO INSPECT THE ACFT SINCE IT HAD NOT BEEN REPORTED BY THE PREVIOUS FLT CREW.

Narrative: UPON ARR AT THE ACFT; I FOUND THE FO'S FORWARD WINDSHIELD COVERED IN BLOOD; GUTS; AND FEATHERS FROM AN OBVIOUS BIRD STRIKE. THE MAINT LOG DID NOT CONTAIN ANY WRITE-UP FOR A BIRD STRIKE AND UPON INVESTIGATION I RECEIVED CONFLICTING INFO ON EXACTLY WHAT HAD BEEN RPTED AND BY WHOM. WHEN MAINT CTL WAS CONTACTED; I WAS INFORMED THAT IT WAS THE CREW'S RESPONSIBILITY TO DETERMINE IF ANY DAMAGE WAS DONE; AND IF SO; TO WRITE IT UP. OTHERWISE; THE CREWS WERE INSTRUCTED TO 'CLEAN IT UP.' I FOUND THIS PROC TO BE SOMEWHAT ODD IN THAT I HAVE NEVER RECEIVED ANY INSTRUCTION IN DETERMINING POSSIBLE BIRD STRIKE DAMAGE AND; THEREFORE; WOULD BE UNABLE TO DETERMINE 'ANY AND ALL' DAMAGE THAT WOULD BE POSSIBLE FROM A BIRD STRIKE. MAINT INFORMED ME THAT THIS PROC HAD 'ALWAYS' BEEN IN PLACE AND WAS IN THE OPS MANUAL. WHEREUPON; I INFORMED MAINT CTL THAT I HAD BEEN HERE 20 YRS AND HAD NEVER HEARD OF SUCH A THING; SO I SERIOUSLY DOUBTED THAT IT HAD 'ALWAYS' BEEN IN PLACE. I COULD NOT FIND ANY INSTRUCTIONS IN THE OPS MANUAL REGARDING A BIRD STRIKE POLICY OR PROC FOR DETERMINING DAMAGE. I WROTE UP THE BIRD STRIKE AND HAD MAINT DO THE INSPECTION. IF THIS IS A PROC TO BE FOLLOWED; I WOULD EXPECT SOME KIND OF TRAINING OR GUIDANCE FOR THE PLTS TO DETERMINE IF ANY DAMAGE MAY HAVE OCCURRED. I WOULD ALSO EXPECT THAT THE CREW IN CHARGE OF AN ACFT WHEN THE BIRD STRIKE OCCURRED WOULD ALSO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR VERIFYING THAT THE INSPECTION WAS COMPLETED AND THE RESIDUAL CLEANED BEFORE LEAVING THE ACFT; OR A MAINT WRITE-UP BE PLACED IN THE BOOKS TO ENSURE THAT AN INSPECTION WAS COMPLETED. AT NO TIME SHOULD AN ACFT EVER BE LEFT WITH OBVIOUS BIRD STRIKE DEBRIS AND NO INDICATION THAT SOMEONE HAS TAKEN THE NECESSARY STEPS TO ENSURE THAT THE ACFT IS SAFE TO OPERATE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 2009 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	787052
Time
Date	200805
Place
Locale Reference	airport : zzz.airport
State Reference	US
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Regional Jet 200 ER&LR
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	ground : parked ground : preflight
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Experience	flight time total : 11000 flight time type : 4000
ASRS Report	787052
Events
Anomaly	inflight encounter : birds maintenance problem : improper documentation non adherence : company policies non adherence : published procedure
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : unable
Consequence	other
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Maintenance Human Performance Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance

Flight crew arrived at the aircraft to discover that the CRJ200 had obviously been involved in a bird strike. No action had been taken to inspect the aircraft since it had not been reported by the previous flight crew.