A jet engine has to eat a bird and still not kill anyone. That is not a metaphor. It is a certification requirement, and it is tested with a compressed-air cannon. Bird ingestion testing under FAA Part 33.76 and its EASA equivalent is one of the most violent rites of passage in aviation. A brand new engine, worth tens of millions, is bolted to a test stand, run up to full take-off power, and fed carcasses fired from a gas gun at roughly 180 to 200 knots to replicate the closing speed of a climbing airliner. The requirement scales with fan inlet area, and the pass criteria differ by threat: - Medium birds, several fired in rapid succession: the engine must not lose more than 25 per cent thrust and must keep running for a defined run-on period - Large flocking birds: sustained thrust with no hazardous failure - Single large bird, up to roughly 3.65 kg on the biggest fans: the engine is allowed to die. It simply must not burn, must not burst its casing, and must not shed debris that co...