Bird and Wildlife Management at Airports

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On January 15, 2009, United Airlines flight 1549 ditched into the Hudson river immediately after take off from New York’s LaGuardia Airport only five passengers were seriously injured and seventy-eight passengers reported minor injuries. It was brilliant piloting of Captain Chesley Sullenberger that saved everyone from a horrendous death but how did this event occur? From reports and interviews, the aircraft suffered damage to both of the aircraft’s engines. The cause of the failure to both engines, was non other than a flock of Canada Geese that flew into both engines, during the first two minutes of the flight. Bird and wildlife strikes have occurred ever since the beginning of flight. The first ever documented on bird strike occurred in Dayton, Ohio September 7, 1908. Reported by the pilot, Orville Wright, Orville was demonstrating patterns over a corn field when he struck a small bird. In 1912, the first ever death from a bird strike was at Long Beach, California. A sea-gull lodged into the controls of Wright Flyer piloted by Carl Rogers. Since then, damages, over six hundred million dollars, has been reported to the Federal Aviation Association (FAA), and; according to the FAA, there has been an increase of bird and wildlife strikes during the past five years. For example, in 2005 the state of Mississippi reported forty-one strikes, but in 2010 Mississippi reported fifty-eight. Why are there more frequent bird and wildlife strikes today? There are a number of reasons why. The FAA mentions three of those reasons. One reason is of the advancement of aircraft the change from piston powered to jet powered. Engines that were piston powered were noisy and frightening causing birds and wildlife to run away from aircraft but wi... ... middle of paper ... ... Bye, e., & Birdies:. (n.d.). Overview of the Wildlife Strike Problem . redirect. Retrieved March 23, 2011, from http://wildlife-mitigation.tc.faa.gov/wildlife/overview.aspx Phoenix Bird Control: Wildlife Management Consultants, Wildlife Control Training. (n.d.). Airport International > News, Information and Suppliers . Retrieved March 23, 2011, from http://www.airport-int.com/suppliers/phoenix-bird-control.html TONI Bird Control Solutions | Airport Business. (n.d.). Airport Business | Airport News & Analysis for the aviation industry. Retrieved March 23, 2011, from http://www.airport-business.com/2010/10/toni-bird-control-solutions/ Radar Could Help Reduce Bird Strikes : Discovery News. (n.d.). Discovery News: Earth, Space, Tech, Animals, Dinosaurs, History . Retrieved April 14, 2011, from http://news.discovery.com/tech/radar-reduce-bird-strikes.html

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