Bird hits pose a threat to flights at Vizag airport, water bodies in vicinity blamed

10 such cases have been reported in the last three months due to growing avian population in the area

Lurking danger: Water bodies surrounding the Visakhapatnam airport have become a nesting ground for birds, which pose a major risk to flight operations.

Flying in and out of the Visakhapatnam Airport is certainly no mean feat for pilots. Air traffic controllers heave a sigh of relief after every arrival and departure at the airport due to the challenging conditions that pilots have to navigate the aircraft in.

The biggest challenge is to avoid bird hits to a plane while it is taking off or coming in to land. In the last three months, there have been 10 bird hits at the airport, which operates both commercial flights and naval aircraft. The airport is under the control of the Indian Navy, which has a base INS Dega at the airport.

“All of the bird hits have luckily occurred in the undercarriage of the aircraft or at the wheels. Had the engines been hit, a disaster would not have been far off,” said a senior naval officer from INS Dega.

Naval officers brought the issue of recurrent bird hits to the notice of Tourism Minister M. Srinivasa Rao and District Collector V. Vinay Chand at a meeting here on Thursday.

Later, speaking to The Hindu , experts from the Navy said that bird hits in the engines can result in sudden loss of thrust. A hit to the windshield can end up cracking the surface, resulting in a disruption of air pressure inside the cabin and causing major problems like a sudden loss of altitude.

Problem areas

Navy officers said that there are three main reasons behind the growing bird population around the airport — the presence of large water bodies, vegetation and garbage dumps. While the Eastern Naval Command has appointed bird hunters, more needs to be done as the area outside the airport is not under the purview of INS Dega.

Officials requested the Collector and GVMC Commissioner to remove vegetation around the airport and clear the stormwater drains on a regular basis.

It is learnt that due to regular dumping of garbage and plastic, the stormwater drain that flows beside the airport gets choked and the water bodies gets flooded. Due to the vegetation and presence of water bodies, the area around the airport has become a favourite haunt for birds such as kites, cranes and crows.

Action plan sought

The ample vegetation also provides them a place for nesting while the water bodies are a source of food supply.

Taking cognisance of the issue, Mr. Vinay Chand asked the revenue department and GVMC to conduct an immediate survey and prepare an action plan.

The airport is located on 1,020 acres of land and the western side of the airport has several water bodies and is covered in thick vegetation. It has one runway measuring about 10,000 ft and handles both national and international flights, apart from the Navy’s AJT Hawk Trainers, MIG 29s and an assortment of naval helicopters, reconnaissance and transport planes.