WEBVTT - Bonus Episode: The Bard and a Bird Strike

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<v Speaker 1>It was a clear, golden New England evening on October fourth,

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen sixty. The sun was ready to set over the

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<v Speaker 1>yachts anchored in Winthrop Harbor in Boston. The residents of

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<v Speaker 1>Winthrop were just sitting down to their suppers when an

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<v Speaker 1>explosion that sounded like a sonic boom interrupted the calm.

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<v Speaker 1>The deafening noise was the sound of a plane slamming

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<v Speaker 1>into the sea seconds after takeoff from Boston's Logan Airport.

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<v Speaker 1>All but ten of the seventy two aboard Eastern Airlines

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<v Speaker 1>Flight three seventy five were killed. You would never imagine

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<v Speaker 1>that William Shakespeare had anything to do with this tragedy,

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<v Speaker 1>but believe it or not, the disaster can be traced

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<v Speaker 1>back to one of the Bard's most obscure plays, one

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<v Speaker 1>written over three hundred and sixty years earlier, the one

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<v Speaker 1>that makes reference to a particular bird Every gun Ship Start. Yes,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Sean Braswell and welcome to The Thread, a podcast

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<v Speaker 1>from Azzi Media where we examine the interlocking lives and

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<v Speaker 1>events of history. This past season, we pulled the thread

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<v Speaker 1>on the murder of John Lennon. Season two will debut

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<v Speaker 1>early next year, but we'd like to share some bonus episodes.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, we call them many threads. Here's the first,

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<v Speaker 1>about a nineteen sixty aviation disaster, actually sparked by William Shakespeare.

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<v Speaker 1>It's hard to go a day in an English speaking

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<v Speaker 1>country without encountering a word or phrase that originated with

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<v Speaker 1>England's famous sixteenth century bard wild goose chase. That's Shakespeare.

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<v Speaker 1>Love is blind Shakespeare. It's Greek to me break the

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<v Speaker 1>ice kill with kindness all Shakespeare. But it's not just

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<v Speaker 1>his creative word play that captures our imagination. Sometimes it's

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<v Speaker 1>what he references birds. For example, it is not yet

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<v Speaker 1>near day. It was the nightingale, and not the law

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<v Speaker 1>that appears the fearful hollow of thine ear nightly she

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<v Speaker 1>sings on yon, pomegranitree, believe me love, it was the nightingale,

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<v Speaker 1>was the law the herald of the moon? No nightingale.

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<v Speaker 1>But there's one reference to a starling in all of

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<v Speaker 1>Shakespeare's plays. It's in a play you probably didn't read

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<v Speaker 1>in school, The Obscure Henry the fourth Part one. The

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<v Speaker 1>reference is found in the first act, scene three. A

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<v Speaker 1>fiery nobleman named Hotspur is upset with King Henry because

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<v Speaker 1>he refused to ransom his brother in law, Mortimer, who

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<v Speaker 1>was captured in a battle with the Scots. Hotspur promises

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<v Speaker 1>he will not let the matter, even if it means

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<v Speaker 1>training a particular bird to badger the king. They I'll

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<v Speaker 1>have a starling, So we talked to speak nothing but

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<v Speaker 1>Maltimon give it. And with the writing of those words,

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<v Speaker 1>the seeds of a disaster. Nearly four centuries later, we're planted.

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<v Speaker 1>Shakespeare chose the starling as hotspurs fanciful Avian accomplice because

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<v Speaker 1>it can mimic almost anything, especially other birds. But there

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<v Speaker 1>are a few more things you need to know about

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<v Speaker 1>starlings for this story thread. First, they are small, thick set,

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<v Speaker 1>dark birds with white speckles. They weigh about two and

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<v Speaker 1>a half ounces, but they are packed with muscle. Starlings

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<v Speaker 1>are twice as heavy as they should be for their size. Second,

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<v Speaker 1>starlings traveling gangs, very large gangs called murmurations. Sometimes the

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<v Speaker 1>number of starlings and a murmuration could number in the thousands.

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<v Speaker 1>If you have ever witnessed a large murmuration of starlings

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<v Speaker 1>as it soars and swoops across the sky, like one

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<v Speaker 1>big creature. It's an experience you will not soon forget.

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<v Speaker 1>One final fact you need to know. Starlings are native

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<v Speaker 1>to Europe. Yet more than two hundred million starlings are

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<v Speaker 1>estimated to live in North America today. There were none

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<v Speaker 1>here during Shakespeare's time. So what happened, Well, for that

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<v Speaker 1>we have a single man to thank, an eccentric Bronx

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<v Speaker 1>resident who loved birds, and the bard who was this

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<v Speaker 1>bird lover. His name was Eugene Chieflin, and he had

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<v Speaker 1>a master plan. The wealthy New York drug maker wanted

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<v Speaker 1>to introduce all of the birds mentioned in Shakespeare's plays

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<v Speaker 1>to North America. Many of his attempts were unsuccessful, but

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<v Speaker 1>not with the starling. He released sixty of the birds

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<v Speaker 1>in Central Park in and there was every reason to

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<v Speaker 1>believe the Avian immigrants would not survive the harsh New

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<v Speaker 1>York winter, but some of the small flock of European

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<v Speaker 1>pilgrims managed to find shelter in the eaves of the

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<v Speaker 1>American Museum of Natural History on the park's west side,

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<v Speaker 1>and the starlings did what Schiaflin hoped they would do.

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<v Speaker 1>They went forth and multiplied big time, and not just

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<v Speaker 1>in New York City. Starlings reached the Mississippi River by

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen thirty. By nineteen fifty, they were pretty much everywhere

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<v Speaker 1>and drove out Native American species like bluebirds and woodpeckers,

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<v Speaker 1>which is how Shakespeare's single fictional starling came to be

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<v Speaker 1>get over two hundred million flesh and blood descendants in

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<v Speaker 1>North America. One of the North American starling's favorite nest

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<v Speaker 1>sites in the mid twentieth century was Tobin Bridge in Boston.

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<v Speaker 1>The city's big dig construction project would eventually change that,

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<v Speaker 1>but over one hundred and fifty thousand starlings used to

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<v Speaker 1>flock to Tobin Bridge every evening at sunset as commuters

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<v Speaker 1>drove home. It seemed harmless enough, even beautiful. Up next,

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<v Speaker 1>Eugene Chieflins starling spark an unforgettable tragedy. They hit the

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<v Speaker 1>front of the airplane, resembling machine gun fire, just burning.

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<v Speaker 1>There wasn't a square inch in my windshield that wasn't splattered.

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<v Speaker 1>I couldn't see a thing. That's a reading of an

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<v Speaker 1>account from Captain W. H. Jenkins. His plane was still

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<v Speaker 1>on the runway at Boston's Logan Airport in nineteen sixty

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<v Speaker 1>when the starlings hit his windshield. He was able to

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<v Speaker 1>bring the aircraft to a stop. But two weeks earlier,

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<v Speaker 1>on October fourth, Eastern Airlines Flight three seventy five was

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<v Speaker 1>not so lucky. A cloud of starling's headed home to

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<v Speaker 1>Tobin Bridge, maybe twenty thousand of them, collided with the

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<v Speaker 1>plane seven seconds after takeoff. Three of the plane's four

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<v Speaker 1>propeller engines were overrun with birds. It happened so quickly

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<v Speaker 1>the pilots did not utter a word to the Logan

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<v Speaker 1>Airport tower. The plane rolled and crashed almost vertically into

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<v Speaker 1>the harbors shallow water, not far from where cousins of

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<v Speaker 1>yachts were anchored offshore. It remains the worst bird strike

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<v Speaker 1>in US aviation history. Starlings may be small, but they

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<v Speaker 1>are considered by aviation experts to be a lethal threat

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<v Speaker 1>in large numbers. A single starling, writes Michael Califatus and

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<v Speaker 1>his book bird strike can be a feathered bullet. A

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<v Speaker 1>swarm of the birds is a feathered fusillade. The scene

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<v Speaker 1>in the harbor after Flight three seventy five went down

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<v Speaker 1>was horrific, but the response was heroic. Sixty lives were lost,

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<v Speaker 1>but there would have been more. If local residents, including

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<v Speaker 1>several teenage boys, had not acted quickly, many of the

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<v Speaker 1>passengers were trapped under water with their seatbelts fastened. Rescuers

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<v Speaker 1>waded out into the debris and formed a human chain

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<v Speaker 1>in the thick mud to pull out survivors. A thorough

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<v Speaker 1>investigation of the crash was conducted, thousands of drugs starlings

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<v Speaker 1>were fired into identical propeller engines to simulate the bird strike.

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<v Speaker 1>The tragic crash of Flight three seventy five set in

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<v Speaker 1>motion new design features and precautions that have made bird

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<v Speaker 1>strikes far less common today, but they still happen from

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<v Speaker 1>time to time. The most notable occurred in two thousand nine,

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<v Speaker 1>when Chelsea Shlenburger A. K. Souley had to make an

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<v Speaker 1>emergency water landing in the Hudson River after his plane

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<v Speaker 1>was struck by a flock of Canadian geese. Eugene Chiaflin

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<v Speaker 1>could never have known the chain of events that his

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<v Speaker 1>experiment in Central Park would set in motion, and the

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<v Speaker 1>damage done does not stop with the tragedy in Boston.

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<v Speaker 1>Starlings do not just fell planes. They transmit disease, They

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<v Speaker 1>consume cattle feed. Sometimes they devour entire wheat fields. Starlings

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<v Speaker 1>are estimated to cost US agriculture around one billion dollars

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<v Speaker 1>a year in crop damage. As Shakespeare once wrote, when

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<v Speaker 1>sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions,

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<v Speaker 1>and occasionally, it could be added, they come in murmurations.

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<v Speaker 1>Every sometimes when this ship, cong say and stock this. Sorry, yes, never,

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<v Speaker 1>it's wrong. Let's cover us always. We always. The Threat

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<v Speaker 1>is produced by Libby Coleman and me Sean braswell. Our

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<v Speaker 1>editors are Carlos Watson and Samir Rao. Chris Hoff engineered

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<v Speaker 1>our show special thanks to Cindy Carpi and sun Jeeve

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<v Speaker 1>Tandon and Tracy Moraan. This episode features music by Johnny

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<v Speaker 1>Flynn the song called Murmuration. Check us out at aussi

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<v Speaker 1>dot com or on Twitter and Facebook. If you love surprising,

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<v Speaker 1>engaging stories from history, look no further than the flashback

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<v Speaker 1>section of AUSI dot com. That's o z y dot com. Nice,

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<v Speaker 1>it's a colt