Comments on: Airplane/Bird Strikes Can Be Reduced

By: Noel Higa

Noel Higa — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:01:40 +0000

I have been doing a lot of research on the issue of bird strikes and airport location. Your’s is the first article that makes the obvious recommendation — don’t put airports where there are likely to be large concentrations of birds. All the rest start with the assumption that the airport has the right to go where ever it wants to go. The birds are a nuisance or hazard that has to be eliminated.

I work for an Indian tribe in western Washington State, the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, Kingston, Wa. We are working very hard to find a way to conserve the western shore of a small bay, Port Gamble Bay. The Tribe’s reservation is on the eastern shore and an old logging company owns the western shore. They are trying to get a seaplane terminal approved in the Bay. But the 4,000 acres on the western shore is home to many bald eagles and is identified as critical habitat. The bay itself supports an abundance of seabirds.

I am looking for resources to help me fight this threat. Have you found any allies? Can you recommend anyone I can talk with who might be able to direct me to support documents?

Thank you,
Noel Higa
Director of Economic Development
Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe
360.297.7432
noelh@pgst.nsn.us

By: Gary Bogue

Gary Bogue — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:36:00 +0000

Interesting. That means they’re going to have to focus on ways to keep the birds away from flight paths … and alerting pilots in ways they will give them more time to steer clear of danger. As an active flight instructor, what are your thoughts on this?

By: Tim MacHugh;

Tim MacHugh; — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:32:15 +0000

The majority of airports in this country are already established. An airport cannot just be arbitrarily moved or located just “anywhere”. First, the location has to have a large area around it with no appreciable obstructions, hills, tall buildings, trees etc. These locations are often in industrial areas where other commerce exists that often attract birds. For example, in Livermore there is a water treatment plant that is located right off the approach ends of the two runways. This facility is a MAJOR contributor to the significant bird population that congregates on the airport property. These are large birds, gulls, geese, and occassionally some HUGE Herons! My point is this, as an active flight instructor flying daily, I see bird issues effecting the MAJORITY of the airports I fly into and most of the time there is an ancillary issue that surrounds why the birds are there! Often airports are near a coastline also because of usually low terrain that exists near the sea shores. It goes without saying that birds are going to be everywhere around these airports. The moral to my discussion is that no matter where you decide to put an airport, the critters will come, whether they’re birds, foxes, rabbits, coyotes…they seem to love the topography of airports!