When a bird strikes

Mumbai: How does Mumbai airport fare in terms of bird hits? An official of Mumbai International Airport Private Ltd (MIAL) feels that the problem of bird hits in Mumbai is as alarming as those in other cities.
“The cases of bird hits in Mumbai are high since it is the busiest airport in India. When one says that bird hits have increased, one has to keep in mind that the number of flights have also increased,” a spokesperson for MIAL said.
A year back, Mumbai had around 530 to 540 aircraft movements in a day. Now it has more than 650.
Airport officials genuinely feel that the number could be less if the municipal corporation takes the issue seriously.
“One of the major problems is the prevalence of slums near the airport,” a senior official from the Air Sight Operations said.
Considering the enormity of the problem — a bird hit can result in a crash — the airport authorities have devised ways of dealing with this problem.
The MIAL employs people whose job is to shoo away birds by using firecrackers. “We have six people in a shift. There are two shifts, each lasting eight hours,” the MIAL spokesperson said.
Bird-scaring devices are also used which emit distress calls of birds. They also plan to put spikes on runway lights, so that birds do not perch on them. The airport area has been cleared of those rocks or soil that may offer perching places for birds.
21/10/07 Lhendup Gyatso Bhutia/Daily News & Analysis

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Categories: Airports Oct 2007, Safety Oct 2007