Bird hits at airport raise safety concerns

Chennai: There has been an increasing number of bird strikes in airports in cities such as Ahmedabad, New Delhi and Mumbai, largely as a result of poor maintenance practices and irregular dumping of garbage.
Airport sources say the authorities have taken precautions to minimise the risk of bird-hits -- for instance, by clearing butcher shops and garbage dumps in the surrounding area. But, there is much more to the problem, says Chennai-based former pilot Capt. A. Ranganathan, who has worked on the Approach and Landing Accident Reduction (ALAR) project for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation.
“Even if local authorities remove butcher shops, as per International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) regulations, airports should ensure that the grass [near the runway] does not grow beyond four inches. This is not done in any of the airports, and that is bound to attract birds, especially after the rain,” Capt. Ranganathan says. Birds are attracted to reptiles in the grass.
With a number of tea shops and construction work in the Chennai airport’s vicinity and a lack of regular inspection, irregular dumping is a safety hazard, Capt. Ranganathan adds.
While birds may judge flight patterns up to certain distances, abrupt movements and irregular landing and take-off practices by pilots pose serious problems.
06/02/08 Ananth Krishnan/The Hindu

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Categories: airports Feb 2008