Your Bird Strike Reports Do Matter

by Bruce MacKinnon, Aerodrome Safety Inspector, Transport Canada

Did you know that between 15% and 30% of the total foreign object damage (FOD) incurred by the world’s airline fleet is caused by collisions between aircraft and wildlife? Did you also know that the annual cost associated with this worldwide problem is $1.2 billion? It’s true. Unfortunately, studies have shown that on average, only 14% to 30% of bird strikes at airports are reported, and airport operators have difficulty in implementing an efficient wildlife management program with such deficient data. Habitat manipulation, wildlife control officer shift schedules, staffing levels and equipment choices are only a few of the many decisions influenced by the number of wildlife incident reports.

A major American airport with a high bird strike rate worked together with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the United States Department of Agriculture to improve the record, by implementing a data-driven, science-based, wildlife management program. The number of bird strikes involving gulls dropped by more than 85% in the span of 12 years as a result of this formal process. This achievement was made possible primarily because improvements were made in the collection and analysis of data.

At one of Canada’s major airports, all wildlife interventions, actions and incidents are reported on a database. The information contained in this database is addressed at monthly meetings attended by representatives from all of the airport’s divisions, and the tactics that are implemented each day to control wildlife are dependent on the information derived from the database. Nevertheless, in a random three-month period, there was a significant discrepancy between the numbers recorded by the airport, and those submitted by the operators.

At another of Canada’s major airports, the bird strike database failed to provide justification for wildlife control activities outside of normal daylight hours. Anecdotal evidence indicated that numerous strikes occurred at night, but the formal data did not support the expense associated with around the clock coverage. However, approximately half an hour after the wildlife control team had completed its shift one evening, a large turbo-jet aircraft collided with waterfowl on the climb-out, resulting in the failure of one engine. Shortly after this incident, the airport instituted 24/7 wildlife control coverage, and a post-incident risk assessment revealed considerable waterfowl activity during the hours of darkness.

Good data is critical to the decision-making process. Information on time of day, wildlife species, effect on flight, altitude, weather conditions, aircraft and engine type and a contact phone number are all pieces of information that benefit those airports motivated to proactively improve their programs.

Transport Canada provides a number of options for reporting wildlife incidents, including report forms with self-addressed and postage paid envelopes, a toll-free telephone reporting line (1-888-282-BIRD) and an on-line reporting system. However, the most useful action that a pilot can take is to issue a radio report to air traffic service (ATS) providers immediately following an incident so that the airport operator can quickly mitigate the threat. Indeed, your wildlife incident reports play a crucial role in airport risk management programs.