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.
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.
