Archive for December, 2011
Chennai airport to hire agency to study spike in late night bird-hits
Monday, December 12th, 2011From: The Times of India
Written By: V Ayyappan, TNN | Dec 5, 2011, 04.55AM IST
CHENNAI: The Airports Authority of India will hire a wildlife agency to study the spike in bird-hits at night in Chennai airport and suggest remedies.
“Pilots have been reporting bird-hits at night while approaching the airport. This is the first time we have heard about night-time bird-hits in Chennai. So, we have decided to conduct a study by engaging an ornithologist,” said airport director E P Hareendranathan.
The works to extend secondary runway across the Adyar river may have disturbed the habitat of birds, suspect AAI officials. An Indian Air Force study has also said that birds living near water bodies have been posing risk to its flights.
Airport brass worry compost will attract dreaded birds
Monday, December 5th, 2011From CTV Montreal:
Updated: Fri Dec. 02 2011 5:44:41 PM
ctvmontreal.ca
MONTREAL — A proposed composting site near the airport could make takeoffs and landings less safe, contend airport officials.
The Dorval composting site is to be located one-and-a-half kilometers from the airport and the facility could attract the very birds that Trudeau Airport officials go to great lengths to deter.
“We have a falconry team at the airport and they have about three hawks, five people and a lot of tools to scare the birds away from the airport,” said Christine Beaulieu of Aeroports de Montreal.
The airport officials point out that birds can conceivably cause a plane to go down, as one flight hit the drink in the Hudson River due to an errant avian.
One bird expert says that with some preventive measures, birds will not wing near the composting site.
David Bird recommends, “fast roll-up doors, enclosed trucks, allowing none of the compost material to be outside the building in any way shape or form and even putting up deterrents for birds not to be able to perch near the facility,” said Bird, Professor of Wildlife Biology.
However the City of Montreal insists that the compost facility poses no risk.”We’ve done our homework, we know exactly how the facility will operate and we’ve done a lot of research to make sure that any risk, no matter how small, can be minimized,” said Executive Committee member Alan de Sousa.