Latest news with #birdstrikes
BreakingNews.ie
6 days ago
- General
- BreakingNews.ie
Dublin Airport flights suffer 278 bird strikes despite €600,000 spent on ‘scaring' measures
There have been 278 bird strikes at Dublin Airport in the past three years despite management spending around €600,000 on 'scaring' measures designed to keep flocks away from the runways. Aircraft also struck hares a total of 42 times during the same period, prompting Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) to conduct catch-and-release operations that involved hares being relocated to Wicklow and Kildare. Advertisement Bird strikes are potentially lethal events that can cause significant damage to planes and can result in jet engines losing power. Affected aircraft often need to abort their takeoff or landing attempts. Last year, 179 passengers were killed when a Jeju Air flight crashed in South Korea following a suspected bird strike, while the landing of a US Airways plane on the Hudson River in 2009 following a collision with a flock of geese was the subject of the Hollywood blockbuster, Sully. Just last month, an Aer Lingus flight bound for New York was forced to return to Dublin Airport after it hit a flock of pigeons during its ascent. The pilots reported experiencing vibrations in the aircraft's right engine after the strike. Advertisement Documents released by DAA under Access to Information on the Environment (AIE) regulations show that 61 confirmed bird strikes were recorded in 2022, and this number more than doubled to 123 the following year. In 2024, a total of 85 bird strikes were confirmed at Dublin Airport, and another eight occurred during the first two months of this year. An additional 14 unconfirmed bird strikes have been recorded since 2022. Trained professionals are employed at the airport to scare birds in a bid to reduce the number of strikes, and around €200,000 is spent on bird-scaring cartridges alone each year, according to DAA. These explode in mid-air after they are fired, creating a loud noise that scares birds in the vicinity of the airport. A 'long-grass' policy is also used to make the airfield less attractive to certain species of birds. Advertisement Meanwhile, Dublin Airport is licensed to capture hares using a consultant approved by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS). A total of 12 were captured and subsequently released in Wicklow and Kildare during the first two months of this year. Each catch-and-release operation costs around €1,500, according to documents released by DAA. A spokesman for the airport authority said the safety of passengers is a 'key priority'. 'Like all airports around the world, ensuring safety requires us to deal with and actively manage wildlife in the vicinity of our airfield, thereby minimising any risk to aviation,' he added.
CBC
13-06-2025
- General
- CBC
Whitehorse airport installs noisy 'scare cannons' to keep birds away
Ryan MacKinnon scanned a patch of brush from a truck parked inside the airfield at Whitehorse's Erik Nielsen International Airport. "Is that a bird or a gopher?" MacKinnon asked as he spotted something. "It's probably a gopher." Observations like these play an important safety role at airports. According to MacKinnon, who's with the territorial government's aviation branch, wildlife are a major factor in aircraft safety at an airport — and birds are a particular concern. That's why the airport has installed new devices to help deter wildlife from entering the airfield: scare cannons. "We're still getting use to them, but they seem to be very effective so far," MacKinnon said. Despite the name, the scare cannons do not fire any projectiles. Instead, they use propane and a battery to ignite a series of three loud booms, every 30 minutes between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. The goal is to reduce the number of birds on the runways. "Birds truly are an enormous threat to aircrafts," he said. "One reference I like to point to is the Tom Hanks movie, called Sully, where an U.S. Airways aircraft ingested several geese and made an emergency landing in the Hudson River." Such events are frequently called "bird strikes," and although rare, they have happened at the Whitehorse airport. "We did have a couple of bird strikes last summer," MacKinnon said. "Fortunately, there was no major damage to the aircraft, or ingestion causing engine failure, but those types of incidents we take extremely seriously." The scare cannons are just one tool MacKinnon and his team are using to manage wildlife in the airfield. Reflective tape, or flash tape, is placed near grassy areas of the runway to deter birds from landing. Teams also frequently inspect buildings for nests, trim grass heights, and remove any standing water. MacKinnon said other airports even use trained dogs or falcons to control wildlife — though the Whitehorse airport isn't considering those yet. Its focus now is on the scare cannons. "It's becoming an extremely busy airport and we just want to add more tools to assist us with wildlife and bird control," MacKinnon said.
