Between the growing numbers of
migrating birds and other wildlife, and the increased air traffic, the
potential for collision with wild geese, seagulls and even vultures is
growing. And, bird eradication is getting more difficult and more
costly, said civilian and military aviation and wildlife experts
attending the Bird Strike Committee USA/Canada, which drew 400 people in
August.
Some 90 people have been killed in the
United States in the last 10 years as a result of aircraft collisions
with birds, according to an article in the September issue of Airport
Business.
The costs of bird eradication can be
enormous. From space-age lasers, sound waves and deterrent chemicals to
traps, tranquilizer guns, shotguns and even paintball guns, airports are
employing an arsenal against the hazard. But it’s costly.
At JFK International Airport, $350,000
is being spent on bird control. And in Minneapolis, six staff members
plus consultants spend more than $110,000 a year to kill geese, scare
off birds, and trap wild creatures, the article reported.
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Even so, some experts say, a number of airports aren’t doing enough.
And a special panel has recommended that the Federal Aviation
Administration do more--develop wildlife hazard management plans and
mandatory bird strike reporting. But the FAA claims the notion of making
airports report bird strikes is simply not enforceable.
The FAA has estimated that between 1990
and 1999, wildlife--deer, geese, gulls and raptors--collisions with
aircraft rose from 1,700 to 4,900.
With the geese population growing
nearly fourfold to two million and 14,000 aircraft out there flying 16
million flights, Richard Parker, an executive with aircraft engine
manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, said in the Airport Business article,
“we could have a very serious problem.”
“We have got to do something about
the population of geese," he said.
The cost of bird strikes in the United
States in damage and lost time to aircraft is estimated at $4 million a
year, Paul Eschenfelder, director of airline pilot safety for the
Airline Pilots Association, told participants at the Bird Strike
Committee. And, if applied to worldwide civilian and military bird
strikes that could go as high as $1 billion.
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