View Full Version : BIRD hazard. Avoidance / Mitigation
What are effective bird deterents used at airports?
What are the strategies to avoid bird strikes if flying in bird infested airspace and how to avoid a bird heading towards you or soaring in your flight path?
Now the reason for these questions is to generate a healthy exchange of ideas.
lomapaseo
1st Oct 2014, 20:15
Quite a few published articles on this to be searched. before forming a question in more specific terms.
Some folks on this board are even authors of such :)
Sir George Cayley
2nd Oct 2014, 19:37
This from the UK CAA
CAP 772: Birdstrike Risk Management for Aerodromes | Publications | About the CAA (http://www.caa.co.uk/application.aspx?catid=33&pagetype=65&appid=11&mode=detail&id=2726)
Those of us who have been responsible for minimising bird strike hazard at airports will remember the cautionary tale of the hawk that was introduced at RNAS Yeovilton to counter a hazard that was predicted rather than observed.
The first bird strike in many years occurred not so very long after the hawk commenced its duties.
The struck bird was, because God has a sense of humour, the hawk.
Burnie5204
2nd Oct 2014, 21:06
The best control methods for bird control are threefold
1 - Habitat Management
2 - A well trained, highly skilled wildlife controller with an off road vehicle, a digi-scare system, a BSC pistol, a shotgun, a scoped rifle and the freedom to go anywhere around the airfield (outside of the Cleared & Graded Area) at will, on and off 'road'.
3 - ATCOs who understand the danger of birdstrikes and will do their utmost (within reason) to facilitate the wildlife controller to enter runway and ILS restricted areas whenever necessary for wildlife control.
CAP 772 is the current manual on wildlife management but in my opinion it's a poor cut and paste job done in an attempt to slim down the manual. It's predecessor was a much more comprehensive manual and contained far more information that the wildlife controller needed to know in the interim between being a fresh out of training controller until they became an experienced controller.
I therefore recommend trying to get your hands on a copy of the now withdrawn CAP 680.
Di_Vosh
3rd Oct 2014, 04:17
Some aircraft also use "pulselights" (i.e. Landing lights that flash intermittently) during the day when below 10,000'.
Apparrently this deters birds.
CISTRS
3rd Oct 2014, 05:19
CAP 680 can be found here:
http://www.shepway.gov.uk/webapp/lydd-airport/CORE%20DOCS/CD16/CD16.18.pdf
Loud crackers were once used to drive birds downwind, specially before a take-off, and even more especially before a VIP departure....perhaps they still are.
So one day HRH His Ludship Charles, Prince of Wales, elected to travel to an engagement by BAe 146/Helicopter, transferring on our specially polished apron, rather than travel for 2 hours mixed up with hoi polloi in a train. This would happen twice, on the way there and on the way back.
The outward transfer went smoothly, but he completely blanked the firecrew party waiting to save his life if the helo caught fire with him in it.
So on the way back, as he walked between the two aircraft, they let off a fusillade of crackers about 100m from the helo, just to ensure there were no birds around. This was their patriotic duty, as the RFFS were in charge of anti-bird systems.
SB and protection officers went promptly into full war mode, weapons drawn, and HRH didn't quite succeed in not looking nervous, although he did try.
Never cross the stalwarts of the RFFS is a lesson we all have to learn.
Di Vosh... Would you name any well known airline that uses the pulsating light technique and what would be the legality of such?
Amadis of Gaul
4th Oct 2014, 16:54
Back when I flew in the Delta Connection system, we had one aircraft with "pulsating lights". We called it "Blinky".
Btw did this 'Pulsy' prove to be any better than the rest? or is it yet another scam
Tarq57
5th Oct 2014, 08:05
Air Nelson (NZ) have a fleet of DH8C's, many of which have the pulsing landing lights. They simply alternate, side to side.
It's not only for bird avoidance, makes them a lot more visible to a human observer, too.
Some of the aircraft flying busy tourist routes in Fiordland (where the airspace is a bit 'tight' due to serious mountainous terrain) have been using pulsed landing lights for a number of years, mainly for the purposes of visibility to other traffic.
I guess it's legal.
ShyTorque
5th Oct 2014, 08:21
Pulsing landing lights are illegal in UK.
Shame, because I know that flashing your car headlights at birds will lift them from the road better than engine noise or sounding your horn.
Not that horns are fitted to aircraft, but obviously they do make noise.
At the UK's premier heliport they use helicopters to scare the birds away from the helipad....
What repellent or evasive maneuvers (if any) can pilots perform against birds then?