"When a bird strikes"

Sunday, October 21, 2007

When a bird strikes
By Lhendup Gyatso Bhutia 
India - The Mumbai Daily News & Analysis

 
With Mumbai airport reporting the highest number of bird hits in the last
three years, birds have become a new headache for authorities, discovers
Lhendup Gyatso Bhutia

Mumbai airport has the distinction of being India's busiest and the most
sensitive airport. 

Therefore, it is only apt that airport officials are on their toes, as far
as  airport security is concerned. 

However, officials are constantly worried about one more factor in the
vicinity of the airport - birds. 

Thanks to the dramatic rise in the number of flight operations, the location
of the airport (large open spaces in the middle of the city) and the apathy
shown by the civic administration in making the area near the airport
slum-free, Mumbai experienced the most cases of bird hits during the last
three years in the country (86 cases of bird hits from 2004 till 2006).

Though the issue of bird hits has always existed, it shot into limelight
after the Australian and Indian cricketers had a close shave, when their
flight from Nagpur to Mumbai was hit by a bird and the pilot was forced to
make an emergency landing.

So, how does the Mumbai airport fare in terms of bird hits? An official of
Mumbai International Airport Private Ltd (MIAL) feels that the problem of
bird hits in Mumbai is as alarming as those in other cities. 

"The cases of bird hits in Mumbai are high since it is the busiest airport
in India. When one says that bird hits have increased, one has to keep in
mind that the number of flights have also increased," a spokesperson for
MIAL said. 

A year back, Mumbai had around 530 to 540 aircraft movements in a day. Now
it has more than 650.  

Airport officials genuinely feel that the number could be less if the
municipal corporation takes the issue seriously. 

"One of the major problems is the prevalence of slums near the airport," a
senior official from the Air Sight Operations said.

"Many birds gather in large clusters near the airport because of the garbage
in slums," he added. 

The official lamented the fact that despite repeated complaints to the BMC,
they have not taken any initiative in the matter. 

Considering the enormity of the problem - a bird hit can result in a crash -
the airport authorities have devised ways of dealing with this problem.

The MIAL employs people whose job is to shoo away birds by using
firecrackers. "We have six people in a shift. There are two shifts, each
lasting eight hours," the MIAL spokesperson said. 

Bird-scaring devices are also used which emit distress calls of birds. They
also plan to put spikes on runway lights, so that birds do not perch on
them. The airport area has been cleared of those rocks or soil that may
offer perching places for birds. 

"The idea is to make the place as inhospitable as possible for birds," an
airport 
official said.

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