By Yael T. Abouhalkah, Kansas City Star Editorial Page columnist

Birds sucked into two engines apparently downed a U.S. Airways jet Thursday in New York, providing a jolting wake-up call for millions of airline passengers.

Just two weeks ago U.S. airlines had celebrated two straight years of flying without a fatal accident.

But on Thursday that accomplishment was almost wiped out in a terrorizing incident that could have killed more than 150 people on board the plane that had just left New York's LaGuardia airport.

But two engines became crippled, apparently when birds were sucked into them. The pilot was able to guide the plane into a rough landing on the frigid Hudson River.

Initial reports indicate emergency crews rescued all aboard before the jet sank.

In the 1980s, when I wrote about airline safety for The Star's editorial pages, the fatality rate for flying was far higher than it is now.

The threat of "bird strikes" wasn't as nearly well understood as it is now.

Pilots today take care to avoid flocks of birds, but often can't do that entirely -- or they run into stray birds flying outside of large flocks.

Improved airline engine designs in the last 20 years also have reduced the threat of bird strikes.

Airline passengers today worry about all kinds of potential problems when they step on a plane -- wind, snow, rain or ice -- while seldom thinking of the potential hazards posed by small birds.

And it's true: The incident rate of bird strikes is still extremely low, especially for large jets.

However, the airline industry must continue trying to find ways to avoid the kind of accident that occurred Thursday in New York. Just one incident of a disastrous bird strike could kill dozens, perhaps hundreds, of passengers.