Dennis Blank/MINNEAPOLIS
Industry experts warn that birds - particularly large flocks of migrating Canada geese - could cause more air crashes and fatalities unless steps are taken quickly to control their numbers.
"We could have a very serious situation," said Pratt & Whitney executive Richard Parker at a BirdStrike Committee USA/ Canada meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, earlier this month. The goose population has grown nearly fourfold to two million, says Parker.
Independent biologist Mike Thomson told the 400 delegates that airports where geese are landing are "being negligent" by not taking any action.
"The cost of birdstrikes in the USA in damage and lost time to aircraft is running at between $300 and $400 million a year," says Paul Eschenfelder, director of safety for the Air Line Pilots Association. He estimates the figure could be as high as $1 billion if all civilian and military birdstrikes worldwide are taken into account.
Since 1990, 90 people have been killed in accidents involving aircraft collisions with birds, says Eschenfelder. The worst crash occurred in Alaska in 1995, when a military Boeing E-3 Sentry's engines became clogged with gulls and the aircraft crashed, killing all 24 people on board.
Northwest Airlines and United Airlines report between 200 and 300 birdstrikes a year between them. Last year, a Northwest aircraft suffered $23 million in damage when birds were ingested into the engine, says Eschenfelder.
The US Federal Aviation Administration estimates that all wildlife collisions with aircraft, which includes deer, geese, gulls and birds of prey, rose from 1,700 in 1990 to 4,900 last year.
Source: Flight International
