Small birds pose huge threat to safety of aircraft movement

Bangalore: Earlier this year, the Indian Air Force (IAF) base at Bidar in Karnataka was taken over by the Greater Short-toed larks, migratory birds the size of sparrows.
The birds had migrated in hordes of hundreds from Gujarat, then facing sparse rainfall, to the agrarian district and eventually forced IAF to change the vegetation around the station so its pilots could get on with their sorties.
The air force expects the tiny birds—nonetheless a big threat to aircraft movement—to return next year to areas near its Hakimpet and Begumpet stations in Hyderabad.
“We are gearing up for that,” S. Srinidhi, deputy director of the ornithology cell at IAF’s directorate of flight safety, said on Monday at a conference on bird strikes—the collision of birds with planes in mid-air.
The cell plans to create a DNA database of birds that pose a risk to planes and will shortly begin a study on bird flocks beyond the visual range using radars.
Bird hits are a major safety issue globally.
In 2008, 304 bird strikes were reported in the country, against 217 in 2007 and 167 the year before. As on end-October, 241 bird strikes were reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, the National Bird Control Committee, a body of the ministry of civil aviation, said on 18 November.
Ahmedabad tops the list of airports that saw high bird hits.
Ornithologists, or those who study birds, say India’s effort in containing bird hits is not effective.
“Even after two-and-a-half decades, airport managements, be it civil or military, have not woken up to the difference between a perfect job and (a) clumsy job,” said Robert Grubh, director of the-Institute for Restoration of Natural Environment, in Nagercoil.
14/12/09 K. Raghu/Live Mint

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Categories: Airports Dec 2009, Safety Dec 2009