Birds could bring down jet May 6 2004
By Sarah Portlock
Wildlife experts say birds at local nature reserves should be culled if passenger flights from Coventry Airport continue.
Warwickshire Wildlife Trust is worried about the number of large birds in the area and the potential for an encounter with a plane's engines.
They say the only safe option to avoid an air accident is to cull all the large birds in nearby nature reserves.
But it describes that as "a crazy option" - and it wants all flights banned until an environmental appraisal can be carried out.
The trust has highlighted a report from the Civil Aviation Authority, produced in 2002, which points out an encounter with a flock of geese could cause multiple engine failures resulting in a catastrophic air accident.
The report can be seen on a new part of the trust's website,
www.warwickshire-wildlife-trust.org.uk
Trust chief executive Dr Andy Tasker said the problem was that jets and large birds do not mix and the airport is surrounded by large areas of wetlands with dozens of large birds, such as Canada geese.
He said: "The words from the CAA make shocking reading. There is a serious environmental and safety issue here which more people ought to be concerned about."
The CAA suggests a 10-mile exclusion zone around airports but Brandon Marsh, Coombe Abbey and Ryton Pools are all within a couple of miles, he added.
Dr Tasker said: "If flights continue, the only safe option will be to cull all the large birds, like geese and swans, at these nature reserves. We think this is a crazy option, so support the immediate banning of all passenger flights from Coventry until a full environmental appraisal has been undertaken."
A spokeswoman for the firm which operates the airport, TUI, said: "This is not something the trust has made us aware of. It shows the need for the new consultation process which we have just set up. It will clarify issues and give us the chance to update people on developments."
TUI had supplied more environmental information to Warwick District Council just last week, she said.
She added: "If people like the trust take part in the consultation process, it will solve these issues."
Sorry, had typed some comments, but the server lost them, so here we go again:
Article above in tonight\'s CET. I am getting increasingly suspicious of any anti-airport articles, so thought I\'d check the CAA article. Firstly, it talks of "safety management" zones, not "exclusion" zones - there is a very big difference here.
Secondly, it seems that all antis have a "one size fits all" prescription when any problem to do with the airport is mentioned - an immediate ban on all passenger flights. I sincerely hope that none of them are doctors, as I certainly wouldn\'t want to be their patient. Either birdstrikes are a serious risk, in which case ALL flights must be banned, or they are an acceptable risk which can be managed. The CAA article certainly points out to older aircraft being more susceptible.
Could anyone quantify the actual risk - are we talking thousands or millions to one?