Airports seek delicate balance in wildlife management

Routes and Airports Channel

Airports seek delicate balance in wildlife management

By Sandra Arnoult
ATW's Airports Today, March 2009, p.1

Airport officials were reminded once again of the dangers posed by wildlife around airports when a bird strike forced US Airways Flight 1549 to ditch in New York's Hudson River on Jan. 15.

While wildlife strikes are rare measured against the total number of airline flights, they can be hazardous and costly. According to statistics provided by Airports Council International-North America, in 2007 an estimated 9,700 strikes occurred on the continent, of which 97% involved birds. Most happen at altitudes below 3,000 ft., with an estimated 13% having an "adverse impact on aircraft." US FAA estimates that strike-related damage and aircraft downtime cost the industry $625 million a year in North America.

Tests are being conducted at Chicago O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, New York JFK and Seattle-Tacoma on avian radar systems that would enable pilots to track and avoid bird populations near airports, ACI-NA says. But widespread use of such technology for commercial aviation could be years away, said Christopher Oswald, VP-safety and technical operations. "These systems don't exist yet. There is no silver bullet."

Following the bird strike involving Flight 1549, officials from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced plans to provide radar detection capabilities at Newark, LaGuardia and Teterboro airports.

Oswald pointed out that most airports have extensive wildlife management programs led by qualified professionals, but the needs of individual airports vary based on size, location, proximity to bodies of water and natural habitats. In addition, airports face a complex maze of federal, state and local regulations that must balance environmental and safety issues, he noted.

In testimony before the House Transportation subcommittee on aviation, Mark Reiss, MD at Seattle-Tacoma International, said more should be done. "Airports would benefit from having stronger, federally mandated mechanisms to control land use in their vicinity," he said at the February hearing in Washington. "Laws limit the ability of airports to modify or eliminate attractive habitats on or near airports, even if similar habitat could be provided elsewhere. These issues have had a stifling effect on airports' efforts to control hazardous wildlife around the country."

ATW

Channels

Routes and Airports Channel

Airports seek delicate balance in wildlife management

ATW Media Group

Penton Media