Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

The Biological Protection Of The Czech Air Force´S., Milan Žuffa-Kunčo

2005 Bird Strike Committee-USA/Canada 7th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC

This contribution compares all known collisions of the Czech Air Force’s aircraft with birds, from 2000 to 2004. In the course of this period we have assayed 122 cases altogether. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been possible to obtain all needed data due to whether objective or subjective reasons. We have got information: * on the collision time in 115 cases (94% of all cases), * on the velocity of aircraft by the collision in 98 cases (80% of all cases), * on the altitude of aircraft by the collision in 105 cases (86% of all cases), * on location of the …

Percentage Of Wildlife Strikes Reported And Species Identified Under A Voluntary Reporting System, Sandra E. Wright, Richard A. Dolbeer

2005 Bird Strike Committee-USA/Canada 7th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC

Reporting of wildlife strikes with civil aircraft in the USA is voluntary but strongly encouraged by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) through Advisory Circulars and FAA publications. The National Wildlife Strike Database contained 59,196 strike reports for civil aircraft, 1990-2004. An initial analysis of independent strike data from an eastern USA airport in 1994 indicated that less than 20% of strikes were actually reported to the FAA for inclusion in the National Wildlife Strike Database. To obtain an improved estimate of the percent of strikes reported, we obtained 14 sets of wildlife strike data maintained by three airlines and three …

Affordable, Real-Time, 3-D Avian Radar Networks For Centralized North American Bird Advisory Systems, Peter Weber, Tim J. Nohara, Sidney A. Gauthreaux Jr.

2005 Bird Strike Committee-USA/Canada 7th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC

Affordable avian radar systems are being developed for Natural Resource Management (NRM) and bird aircraft strike hazard (BASH) applications. Recently [I], the authors have reported on mobile avian radar system requirements and on a system design that is state-of-the-art. In the present paper, the system design of a single avian radar is expanded in scope to address 3-D avian radar networks. These are essential to fully realize an affordable yet high-performance North American bird advisory system. The proposed avian radar network design includes antenna, transceiver and signal processor designs for the avian radar sensor, network design, sensor integration, and system …

Raptor Strike Avoidance At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport: A Biological Approach, Clifford Anderson, Steve Osmek

2005 Bird Strike Committee-USA/Canada 7th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC

In June 2001 we initiated a Raptor Strike Avoidance Program to monitor raptor activity and develop a biologically-based approach to reduce raptor densities at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), King County, WA. Weekly surveys established the species, sighting frequencies, and distributions of raptors. Red-tailed Hawks (RTHAs), our most common raptor, occur as both resident and migrant/wintering hawks. We attached colored leg bands, backpack radio-transmitters and wing-tags to 8 of 12 resident RTHAs to identify individuals, locate nests and to assist in defining territories. These adult RTHAs were released onsite with the expectation that they would act as “sentinel” hawks by driving …

Enhancement Of The Faa’S On-Line Wildlife Aircraft Strike Database With An Interactive Graphics Capability, Archie M. Dickey, Allen R. Newman, Michel Hovan

2005 Bird Strike Committee-USA/Canada 7th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Prescott, AZ, USA) was awarded a grant from the William J. Hughes FAA Technical Center in October 1999 to develop and maintain a web site dealing with a wide variety of airport safety wildlife concerns. Initially, the web site enabled users to access related topics such as wildlife management (at/near airports), bird identification information, FAA wildlife management guidelines, education, pictures, current news, upcoming meetings and training, available jobs and discussion/forum sections. In April 2001, the web site was augmented with an on-line wildlife strike report (FAA Form 5200-7). Upon submittal on-line, “quick look” email notifications are sent …

Managing Birdstrike Risk With Information Technologies: A Review Of The State-Of-The-Art In 2005, T. Adam Kelly

2005 Bird Strike Committee-USA/Canada 7th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC

This presentation will discuss three information technologies currently available for management of aircraft birdstrike risk: The United States Air Force (USAF) Avian Hazard Advisory System (AHAS), the USAF United States Bird Avoidance Model (US BAM), and mobile bird detection radar systems. These three technologies have been under development since the mid-1990’s and efforts are now underway to exchange data and integrate the technologies.

In 2005 the USAF Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH) Team assigned responsibility for further development and refinement of the US BAM to the contractor team responsible for the ongoing development and operation of AHAS. The intent is …

Adopting An Integrated, Flexible Approach To Reducing The Birdstrike Risk From Canada Geese, Andy Baxter, Ian Witter

2005 Bird Strike Committee-USA/Canada 7th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC

Canada Geese overflying the runways at London’s Heathrow Airport have been struck on eleven occasions by aircraft during the last ten years. Four of these occurred during the pre-breeding season and seven during the post moult period. A monitoring study was initiated in 1999 to evaluate the movements of geese around the airport and determine appropriate mitigation strategies to reduce the risk of birdstrike. Moult sites within 13km of the airport were identified. 4,900 moulting geese were caught and fitted with colour rings and radio-transmitters between 1999 and 2004. 2,500 visits were made to over 300 sites resulting in over …

2005 Bird Strike Committee, Conference Schedule: Overview Of Technical Sessions

2005 Bird Strike Committee-USA/Canada 7th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC

No abstract provided.

Wildlife Risk Management At Vancouver International Airport, Gary F. Searing

2005 Bird Strike Committee-USA/Canada 7th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC

The Vancouver International Airport (YVR) is the second busiest airport in Canada. YVR is located on Sea Island in the Fraser River Estuary - a world-class wintering and staging area for hundreds of thousands of migratory birds. The Fraser Delta supports Canada’s largest wintering populations of waterfowl, shorebirds, and raptors. The large number of aircraft movements and the presence of many birds near YVR pose a wide range of considerable aviation safety hazards. Until the late 1980s when a full-time Wildlife Control Program (WCP) was initiated, YVR had the highest number of bird strikes of any Canadian commercial airport. Although …

Trash And Water: Managing On-Airport Wildlife Attractants At Paine Field, Washington, Matthew R. Stevens, Laurence M. Schafer, Brian E. Washburn

2005 Bird Strike Committee-USA/Canada 7th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC

Identifying and addressing land uses on or near airports that attract wildlife hazardous to aviation, such as refuse and water management facilities, is an important component of an integrated approach to reduce wildlife-aircraft collisions. Similar to most airports, Snohomish County Airport (Paine Field) has recently been involved with construction of on-airfield stormwater management structures. In addition, Snohomish County built a new trash-transfer facility on airport property during 2002-2003. The airport, USDA Wildlife Services, and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provided considerable input into the design and landscaping around the transfer facility and in the redesign of a stormwater detention pond/wetland …

Efficacy Of Aircraft Mounted Lighting To Reduce Bird Strikes, Scott T. Philibin

2005 Bird Strike Committee-USA/Canada 7th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC

A question has lingered over the Aviation Industry for over 30 years. Can we improve the visibility of aircraft to birds so as to reduce the probability of bird aircraft collisions? At the outset, I want to make clear that reducing bird hazards to aircraft is a comprehensive and systemic problem which can be mitigated in part by active control of causative factors in and around airports. However, aircraft rapidly transition out of the airport boundary in a matter of seconds and are still transitioning miles away from the airport at altitudes where birds may still be commonly found. It …

High Speed Flight At Low Altitude: Hazard To Commercial Aviation ?, Paul F. Eschenfelder , Capt.

2005 Bird Strike Committee-USA/Canada 7th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC

Commercial aircraft are capable of, and in fact, do, operate at high speed (>250 knots indicated airspeed [KIAS]) at low altitude (below 10,000’ above ground level) worldwide. Design, construction and certification standards for these aircraft were developed over 40 years ago. Since the development of these standards populations of large flocking birds have increased dramatically in many parts of the world. Yet neither design/construction standards nor operational practice have changed to reflect the new threat. Subsequent serious damage resulting from recent collisions indicates change is necessary. Since 2003, flight rules in Canada and the United States have been amended, …

North American Bird Strike Advisory System: Strategic Plan, Russell P. Defusco , Usaf (Ret.), Michel J. Hovan, James T. Harper , Lt. Col., Usaf, Kurt A. Heppard

2005 Bird Strike Committee-USA/Canada 7th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC

The international aviation community recognizes the high human and economic costs associated with bird strikes. Hundreds of lives and millions of dollars have been lost in recent years because of this problem. Notably, aviation experts in North America recognize the importance and availability of potential solutions for this problem. Several models and systems such and the USAF’s Bird Avoidance Model (BAM) and the Avian Hazard Advisory System (AHAS) as well as the technological development of advanced radar and communications systems have made great progress in addressing the problem of bird strikes. However, many have argued that further and much greater …