Incidents of bird-hits, animals straying onto runways on rise

Vijay Mohan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 8

There has been a significant increase over the past four years in the number of incidents of bird-hits and animals straying onto runways or airport premises in the country.

The number of wildlife strike incidents (birds and animals) was 719 in 2014. It went up to 1,069 in 2017 (till November 30). In 2015 and 2016, there were 764 and 839 such incidents, information compiled by the Ministry of Civil Aviation reveals.

The number of incidents involving animals straying into airports or in close vicinity of aircraft was 40 in 2014. Though it dipped to 15 in 2015 and to four in 2016, it spiked to 81 in 2017.

The ministry has claimed that the increase in such incidents is due to increase in operations as well as effective reporting of incidents. According to the Airports Authority of India, aircraft movement increased by 10.7 per cent in November 2017 over November 2016.

Bird strikes pose a significant threat to flight safety that cause a number of accidents with human casualties. Large birds can cause dame to the airframe, shatter windscreens and if injected by the engines, result in a flameout. Some reports have suggested that bird-hits cause an annual damage of up to $1.2 billion to commercial aircraft worldwide. Aircraft are particularly vulnerable to bird-hits during takeoff and landing, though there have been instances in India of large birds colliding with aircraft at higher altitudes also, as has been reported by the Air Force. Bird-hits account for a third of the accidents in the IAF.

Most Indian airports and military airbases face high threat of bird activity and stray animals due to close proximity of human settlements and little regard for proper disposal of garbage.

The IAF’s Directorate of Aerospace Safety has a special ornithology cell that conducts regular surveys and research on avian activity.