Clear and present danger at city airport

Ten bird hits in the last three months set alarm bells ringing

October 13, 2019 11:27 pm | Updated 11:27 pm IST

There have been 10 bird hits at Visakhapatnam International Airport during the last three months!

Thankfully, all the bird hits had occurred either in the undercarriage of the aircraft or at the wheels. A disaster could have occurred, had the birds hit the engine.

On October 6, the Visakhapatnam – Singapore Silk Air flight was grounded for nearly five hours. The flight, which was scheduled to have taken off at 11.10 p.m. on October 6, finally took off at 4.14 a.m. on Oct 7.

"The aircraft had reportedly suffered a bird hit. It took off after partial repair, which necessitated reduction of the load by deboarding some of the passengers, to enhance the flying ability of the aircraft, according to sources.

A ‘technical snag’ and not a bird hit is the cause for grounding of the Silk Air flight. It took off after temporary repairs with reduced load, according to official sources.

In September, 2017, the Bengaluru-bound IndiGo flight was grounded at the airport. The pilot had aborted take-off, after the bird hit the propeller, and applied brakes after covering one-third of the runway.

In November 2017, the Vizag – Hyderabad IndiGo flight, returned to the runway soon after take off. The rear wheel of the flight hit a wild boar, which sprang out from the nearby bushes and ran across the runway. After thorough inspection and confirmation that the flight did not suffer any damage, the flight took off after a three-hour delay.

In January 2011, the Visakhapatnam – New Delhi SpiceJet flight was diverted to Hyderabad after a bird hit the aircraft soon after take off from Visakhapatnam. The affected flight was grounded in Hyderabad and the passengers were accommodated on another flight to New Delhi.

Hardship to passengers

Bird and animal strikes are a threat to safety of passengers and crew. Grounding and delays of flights cause unnecessary tension and hardship to passengers having onward connections. They can also cause colossal loss to the airline. "If a bird hits the engine of an aircraft, the cost of repair can go up to US $ 2 million," says Col Raman Emani of World Birdstrike Association.

"The measures to reduce bird hits include: passive measures like avoiding dumping of wastes in the vicinity of airports, not growing trees close to the airport as they attract birds and keep the grass low. The active measures include: bird repellents and lasers," he says.

The Airport Advisory Committee, which has representatives of the Indian Navy, Airports Authority of India (AAI), Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) and representatives of the airline industry, with the District Collector as Chairman, meets periodically to discuss various issues pertaining to the airport and the remedial measures, which need to be taken.

After the bird hit, suffered by SpiceJet in 2011, several meetings were held and measures were taken to check the dumping of wastes, from the chicken stalls in the areas, close to the airport. The then District Collector had issued a warning to chicken stall owners and slaughterhouses of action, if they indulged in dumping of animal wastes around the airport.

The presence of a large water body near the airport as also the formation of temporary pools during the monsoon, as the airport is in a low-lying area, is attracting various species of birds, including migratory ones, to the area.

The committee had suggested filling up of the low-lying areas, where the temporary pools were being formed during the rains.

Remedial measures

The authorities concerned have also been taking remedial measures from time to time. The rich bio-diversity of the area is attracting birds like grey falcons, which come for nesting on the ground, purple herons, open bill stork and cattle egrets besides kites and mynahs.

Some of the birds are feeding on the fish breeding in the pond near the airport. The insects and millipedes are also attracting insectivorous birds.

The delegates at the three-day international conference on ‘Aviation safety,’ organised by the World Birdstrike Association (WBA)-South Asia chapter in Visakhapatnam in December 2017, expressed concern that at least two planes are struck in India, on an average, every day due to bird or animal hits on the runways. "Over 4,000 aircraft had suffered damages due to wildlife strikes at 80 airports in India, during the last five years (preceding 2017)," they said, quoting data procured from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

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