Question

the plane was 4 miles from laguardia airport and was ascending at an angle of 7.7 degrees. Calculate the planes height above ground level at the time of the bird strike

Answer 1

the picture in the attached figure

Let 
h-------> the planes height above ground level at the time of the bird strike

we know that
sin 7.7°=opposite side angle 7.7°/hypotenuse
where
opposite side angle 7.7°=h
hypotenuse=4 miles
so
sin 7.7°=h/4-------> h=4*sin 7.7°-----> h=0.54 miles

1 mile-----------> 5280 ft
0.54 mile------> x
x=0.54*5280-----> x=2829.79 ft------> 2830 ft

the answer is
2830 ft