Laser Sheds Light on Problem of Bird Strikes at Airports

Did you hear about the teal who played chicken with a US Airways jet a couple of weeks ago and forgot to duck?

Apparently, the aircraft was starting its descent into Seattle- Tacoma International Airport when the bird took aim at one of the engines. He "fowled" up the flight plan when the engine caught fire.

Luckily, the pilot was able to land the aircraft without injuring any passenger or crew member. But it grounded the duck in more ways than one.

This isn't the first bird to have his feathers ruffled by an airplane. According to the Bird Strike Committee of the United States, bird strikes since 1998 have been blamed for the deaths of more than 195 people worldwide. And wildlife encounters with aircraft cause more than $600 million in damage annually.

The Fiji Times reported in March that a mid-air bird strike with the engine of an Air Pacific aircraft cost the airline $1 million.

Last February, the Denver Post reported that bunnies are keeping the U.S. Department of Agriculture hopping at Denver International Airport. Besides causing damage by gnawing on electrical wiring, the rabbits attract birds and coyotes to the runways. According to the article, animal strikes at the airport caused more than $4 million in aircraft damage.

For the airlines, which are already faced with severe financial problems, this isn't chicken feed.

The problem is that airports are often located near natural wildlife areas. And airport grounds become ideal nesting places for small animals, which are often the food supply for large animals and birds. So it's not just birds that are the problem.

Last year at Ogdensburg International Airport in New York, a small plane tangled with a coyote. The encounter caused so much damage that the aircraft was considered a total loss. So was the coyote.

Airports have tried a number of ways to control the birds. During the 1960s, when seagulls became a problem at New York City airports, the experts thought they could entice the birds away from the runways by seeding Long Island Sound with shellfish. The birds took the bait. Then they returned to the airports to use the runways to crack the shells. It cost the airport a lot of clams (and not just the saltwater kind).

Airports have tried sirens, scarecrows, rockets and even firecrackers to scatter the birds, but in most cases the birds get used to the noise and return to roost.

Southwest Florida International Airport, located near Fort Myers, is on a major migratory bird path. Marshy grasslands surrounding the airport create roosting areas for herons and cranes. Bird strikes were a major problem - until the airport hired Jet, a border collie.

He worked like a dog for around five years and was a howling success. Jet herded the birds away from the airport. And because he didn't bark, the birds perceived him as a predatory threat, not just a noisy distraction. When Jet retired, Radar became top dog and continues to keep the birds at bay.

A few smaller commercial airports and some military bases have started using border collie patrol, but for larger airports, bird strikes continue to be a problem.

Still, there's hope. A French inventor has developed a laser beam that might be the answer. Apparently, the beam emits a green light that says "Go!" to birds, who then do just that. According to one pilot, Montpellier Airport in France tested the system for nearly two years with a 100 percent success rate.

If this laser turns out to be as successful as the French test shows, it could save the airlines a few bucks. And that would a feather in someone's hat.

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