Gregory Polek has spent his entire career in aviation journalism with AIN, starting as a proofreader and assistant to then-managing editor Mary Mahoney in 1995 after serving an internship with&nbsp;New Jersey Monthly&nbsp;magazine and completing his B.A. degree in English/Writing at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. By 1997 Polek accepted a position as an associate editor, covering the regional airline beat for&nbsp;Aviation International News&nbsp;in place of retiring industry veteran Don Anderson. The assignment took Polek across North America and Europe to profile regional airlines varying in size and mission from the likes of floatplane operators Kenmore Air and Chalk’s Ocean Airways to regional jet operators such as SkyWest and American Eagle. Today, in his dual role as Air Transport Editor and International Airshow Editor, Polek writes, edits, and manages AIN’s commercial aviation content while overseeing each of the company’s daily international air show publications in Paris, Farnborough, Singapore, and Dubai. Most recently Polek has assumed oversight of daily coverage of the Helicopter Association International’s annual Heli-Expo convention.

Senior Editor

Gregory Polek

The Smithsonian Institution has identified the bird remains found in both engines of the US Airways A320 that ditched into the Hudson River on January 15 as those of Canada Geese. The Smithsonian’s feather identification lab has so far examined 25 samples of bird remains and reached its conclusion through DNA analysis and through morphological comparisons with specimens in the museum’s collections. It plans to perform more analysis on samples received from the NTSB in an attempt to determine whether the birds were resident or migratory. 
While investigators do not yet know how many birds the aircraft struck or how many the engines ingested, an adult Canada Goose typically ranges in weight from 5.8 to 10.7 pounds, although larger individual resident birds can exceed published records. The bird-ingestion standard in effect when the airplane’s CFM56-5B/9 turbofans gained certification required that the engines withstand ingestion of a four-pound bird without catching fire, releasing hazardous fragments through the engine case, generating loads high enough to compromise structural components or losing the ability to shut down. The certification standard does not require that the engine generate thrust after ingesting a bird four pounds or heavier.

Bird Remains from US Airways Flight 1549 Identified as Canada Geese

The Smithsonian Institution has identified the bird remains found in both engines of the US Airways A320 that ditched into the Hudson River on January 15 a

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