It’s the auxiliary retractable engine, for STOL operations. It gives the aircraft turboprop like performance in takeoff and landing, with no detrimental effect on cruise performance.
There’s one on each side of the plane, of course, but it’s for redundancy only, as the Auxiliary Steering System can be used in forward or reverse, allowing one unit to rotate the plane to both port and starboard.
I tried to find a Scary Go Round archive with the whole subplot of the communist robots having a party at the bus station and fucking the buses, but it is too old to be available, I think 😢
The incoming bird sensor first senses any incoming birds; then, its cushioned robotic hand (think an oversized Mickey Mouse hand) gently smacks them out of the way of the plane’s path.
When an aircraft loses engine power, this automatically pops out. As in this scenario, not all instruments are powered and one has only one shot at landing, this is to assist in the expected imminent landing; it operates something like a curb feeler on a car. When you hear the propeller impacting the runway, you know that you’re probably too low.