AAI to out-gun animal, bird threat

Nagpur: It has decided to install hi-tech scare-guns known as 'zon guns' in the airport premises to scare animals and birds away from the runways and the operational area.
The zon gun is an LPG cylinder-operated device with a rotating barrel which booms roughly every 30-40 seconds. The sonic blast measures around 100-125 decibels and is sufficient to drive away birds and wild animals in an area of 2-3 acres.
S N Borkar, airport controller said, "We have decided to install 12 zon guns on the runway and operation area to shoo away stray animals and birds.."
The need for such preventive measures was underlined recently when nearly 135 passengers aboard Indigo's Pune-Nagpur-New Delhi flight had a providential escape when the flight encountered a barking deer right on the runway. Recently, a Jet Airways flight carrying Indian and Australian cricket players made an emergency landing following a bird-hit.
17/03/08 Sachin Dravekar/Times of India

To Read the News in full at Source, Click the Headline

Categories: Airports Mar 2008, Safety Mar 2008