AVIATION SAFETY AND SECURITY

Biologist: Birds competing for airspace with planes
CNN
1/16/2009

Environmental rules have led to large jump in numbers of big birds like
geese

(CNN) -- The problem of planes hitting birds comes down to a key fact:
"We're competing for airspace," says Richard Dolbeer, a biologist who spent
20 years studying the problem at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Richard Dolbeer says "bird strikes that would disable both engines on an
aircraft is fortunately a rare event."

Populations of large birds have increased dramatically since the 1970s,
when environmental regulations were instituted in the United States. Birds
have become more accustomed to living in urban environments near airports
and the number of airline flights has risen sharply, according to Dolbeer.

Dolbeer, who retired in September 2008 and is now a consultant on the
issue, spoke with CNN hours after a US Airways plane crash-landed in the
Hudson River in New York after an apparent bird strike. He retired as
National Coordinator for the Airport Wildlife Hazards Program and was
chairperson of Bird Strike Committee-USA from 1997-2008.

CNN: How big a problem are bird strikes?

Dolbeer: Every year, approximately 7,000 to 8,000 bird strikes are reported
to the Federal Aviation Administration primarily by commercial airlines
nationwide. The reporting is a voluntary system. It's not mandatory, so we
know that not all of the bird strikes are being reported. We estimate that
as much as 80 percent of the strikes are not reported.

It's a fairly common occurrence to have bird strikes, but to have bird
strikes that would disable both engines on an aircraft is fortunately a
rare event.

CNN: What are some of the most serious instances of bird strikes?

Dolbeer: In 1995, at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska, a Boeing 707, a
wide-bodied jet adapted to military use as a surveillance plane, ingested
Canada geese into two of four engines. It crashed a mile away and killed 24
airmen.

In Rome, Italy, in November, a Boeing 737, which is very similar to the
Airbus 320, flew through a flock of starlings and both engines were
disabled. The pilot was able to land the plane on the runway, but it
collapsed the landing gear and did extensive damage to the aircraft. There
were a few injuries, but no one was killed.

Last March in Oklahoma City, a business jet was taking off and it struck a
flock of white pelicans, which is another species which is increasing. It
crashed into a wood lot and killed all five businesspeople aboard.

The root of the problem right now is that because of the very successful
wildlife conservation programs in North America since the 1970s, we've seen
a tremendous resurgence of many wildlife species, particularly large bird
species -- species that weigh over 4 pounds, including Canada geese, snow
geese, bald eagles, great blue herons, double-crested cormorants, turkey
vultures and black vultures.

In fact, of the 36 species of birds in North America that weigh over 4
pounds, 24 of those have shown population increases, nine have shown stable
populations and only one has shown a decline in the last 30 years. The
Canada goose population in the United States -- the resident Canada geese,
not the migrant birds from Canada -- has increased from 1 million birds in
1990 to about 3.9 million in 2008.

In addition to these populations increasing, they've also adapted to urban
environments. They're not afraid to associate with people. Traffic doesn't
bother them, aircraft don't bother them. So they're more likely to be seen
near airports.

Another important factor is modern turbofan aircraft like the Airbus 320.
Their engines are much quieter than older aircraft. And almost all the
noise comes out of the back of the engine. Birds are less able to hear or
see modern aircraft. There are more airplanes in the sky, more birds in the
sky and this is where the conflict comes in.

The number of strikes being reported is definitely increasing. In 1990, the
FAA had approximately 1,750 strikes reported. And in 2007, the last year we
have data, we had 7,600.

Some of that may be due to a little better reporting, but there are also
more aircraft flying today.

CNN: What can be done to prevent these strikes?

Dolbeer: There are three basic things that airports can do and many
airports are doing.

One is habitat management at the airport to make it as sterile as possible
for birds -- by eliminating standing water, keeping grass where you don't
have weeds producing seeds which attract birds, reducing perching areas for
the birds, posts and things birds can perch on, covering up garbage, not
allowing landfills close to an airport, making an airport as sanitary as
possible.

That would also include rodent control -- eliminating small mammals that
owls and hawks might be attracted to -- and insect controls. Habitat
management is the No. 1 defense.

The second is dispersal of birds by a trained bird control crew that goes
out and uses pyrotechnics and other means to scare the birds away when they
do come onto the airport. Some airports use trained dogs. A few airports
train falcons. The idea is to scare the birds, harass the birds.

The third area is removal of birds when the habitat management and
dispersal do not work. Sometimes Canada geese become accustomed to the
harassment and they're not scared by it anymore. Airports get permits to
remove some Canada geese by using a shotgun to demonstrate to the other
birds that this is not a place to be. These are very selective lethal
controls.

Now, with regard to aircraft, there is research under way looking at can
you enhance the visibility of aircraft to birds, using UV reflective paint
since birds can see in the UV-range and using flashing lights. Are there
things which can be mounted on aircraft to make them more visible to birds?
This is just in an experimental stage.

One final area of research is the use of bird-detecting radar to help air
traffic control and pilots to detect the birds and help drive planes around
concentrations of birds. This is not operational, it's in a developmental
stage.

None of these things are going to be silver bullets. No one technique or
procedure is going to solve the problem.

CNN: Are enough resources being applied to solve this problem?

Dolbeer: It's an area that needs more attention.

Airports have bird control programs to varying degrees. It has not been a
high-profile area of work. We need to devote more resources to this
problem, particularly given the increasing number of birds we have. We're
competing for airspace. It's a complex issue. This incident will perhaps
really focus peoples' attention to do a better job of solving the problem.