Tag: aviation

When Animals and Airplanes Collide

  • Airport Operations Manager Todd Laps uses pyrotechnics - and sometimes just plain old honking the car horn - to harass birds and keep them away from the airport. (Photo by Julie Grant)

If you bite your nails every time
you’re on a plane – the increasing
number of bird strikes might give
you one more reason for concern.
Julie Grant reports on efforts to
prevent airplanes from hitting birds:

Transcript

If you bite your nails every time
you’re on a plane – the increasing
number of bird strikes might give
you one more reason for concern.
Julie Grant reports on efforts to
prevent airplanes from hitting birds:

Todd Laps probably never envisioned that he’d spend his days harassing
birds. He’s operations manager at the Akron-Canton Airport in Ohio.

(sound of a plane landing)

But for the past few years, he’s started doing everything he can to keep
birds off the runway.

(sound of a horn)

Sometimes he just chases them in a truck while honking the horn.

“If you chase them around enough, they get tired of it, and they leave.
But you may have to drive around blowing the horn for five minutes to get
them to leave.”

(sound of a horn)

It’s not that Laps hates birds. He’s actually trying to save them –
from getting sucked into plane engines. That’s pretty bad for the birds.
It can also damage the planes.

The Federal Aviation Administration says bird strikes have killed more than
200 people worldwide since 1988 – and cost the U.S. aviation industry
hundreds of millions of dollars.

Ever since geese took out both engines in US Airways flight 1549 earlier
this year – leading to that dramatic flight into the Hudson River –
more airports are paying attention to the surrounding wildlife.

Mike Begier is national coordinator of the Airport Wildlife Hazards Program
with the US Department of Agriculture.

He says populations of larger birds – such as geese – are increasing. At
the same time, there are more planes in the air then there used to be.

“So we’re competing for the same airspace. So it’s a probability.
The more times you fly, the more chances you have to strike something.”

Begier says most airports were built a little outside of the city, in
green, wet areas. And those places attract lots of birds and animals.

“Birds may want to stop over there and rest. Airports that do not have
adequate fencing wind up being a refuge for deer or coyote.”

At the Akron airport, they’ve recently cut down 40 acres of trees to make
the area less attractive to wildlife. They’ve also started mowing more
to discourage bugs. Without bugs, there are fewer small mammals and birds.
The folks in Akron think it’s made a difference reducing the number of
accidents.

Airports are not required to report wildlife strikes. Some do voluntarily.
When the FAA opened up its records on collisions between planes and birds
and coyotes and even alligators this year, it looked like the number of
accidents was on the rise at some airports.

But Begier says those numbers don’t provide an accurate picture.
Airports don’t have to report them, so as many as 80% of strikes still go
unreported.

“So when we see these high numbers of strikes, it’s important to
realize that the airports are actually being proactive, that they’re
reporting their strikes – which is a very good thing.”

Begier gives the example of JFK airport in New York. It’s in the top ten
airports nationwide reporting the most wildlife strikes. That sounds bad.
But because JFK voluntarily reported accidents, biologists were able to
figure out part of its problem. When the nearby bayberry bushes were ripe,
they were attracting lots of birds. By removing the bushes, they reduced
the number of accidents.

Researchers are also experimenting with higher tech solutions at airports.
They’re trying laser lights to harass birds away from hangars, using
small radar units to track birds and warn planes of approaching danger, and
using pulsating lights on planes to mimic bird predators.

But for USDA wildlife biologist Rebecca Mihalco, the old fashioned methods
are the most rewarding – at least today. She works at the
Cleveland-Hopkins airport and just caught a red-tailed hawk.

“I’m always excited when I catch a hawk. I guess I’m a kid that
way.”

Mihalco drove the hawk far away from the airport and released it.

But to avoid so many accidents with wildlife, airports will have to do
better than catching them one at a time or chasing after birds and honking
at them.

For The Environment Report, I’m Julie Grant.

Related Links

Fcc Ordered to Protect Birds

A court is ordering the Federal Communications Commission to protect birds. Rebecca Williams reports the FCC has to find ways to keep birds from crashing into radio, TV and cell phone towers:

Transcript

A court is ordering the Federal Communications Commission to protect birds. Rebecca Williams reports the FCC has to find ways to keep birds from crashing into radio, TV and cell phone towers:


The government says each year, as many as 50 million birds are killed by communications towers.


Darin Schroeder is with American Bird Conservancy. He says birds mistake the tower lights for stars they use to migrate at night.


“They’re drawn to these towers, they circle the towers within this cone of light and they’re unable to escape so they either hit each other or hit the structure, or they fall exhausted, often to their death.”


Schroeder’s group was part of a lawsuit against the FCC. The court ruling means the FCC will need to find ways to protect birds from communications towers. That might mean installing different kinds of tower lights that won’t confuse birds.


For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

Related Links

Airport Thaws De-Icing Problem

Each winter, airports around the country use more than 30 million
gallons of deicing fluid. The gooey substance prevents ice and snow from
building on a plane’s wings. However, the fluid can also seep into the
ground and pollute groundwater. It’s a costly problem for airports. But
now, one has found a unique solution. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports:

Transcript

Each winter, airports around the country use more than 30 million gallons of deicing fluid. The

gooey substance prevents ice and snow from building up on a plane’s wings. However, the fluid can

also seep into the ground and pollute groundwater. It’s a costly problem for airports. But now, one

has found a unique solution. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports:


(sound of plane)


It’s a cold, overcast day in Albany, New York as a passenger plane lifts off the runway. It’s one

of the hundred or so planes that take off from here every day. At this time of year, they’ll all

have to be deiced. Steve Lachetta is the Albany airport’s planner and environmental manager.


“We’re in the Hudson River basin and our winter season extends for over 214 days, from early

October through late April or early May. Albany, being a typical small hub, uses 100 thousand

gallons of PG per year.”


PG is propylene glycol, the main ingredient in deicing fluid that makes it gooey. Any time the

temperature dips below 40 degrees, airports are required by the FCC to use PG. The problem is,

propylene glycol also seeps into the ground.


And in Albany’s case, it started showing up in the nearby Mohawk River – a local source for

drinking water. So, Albany became the first airport in the country to receive a state mandate to

clean up its deicing fluid.


“We were spending one million dollars to dispose of our winter storm water after collection. So we

tried every form of recycling the fluid, trucking it off airport. And we took a common sense

approach to cost control and became very interested in establishing biological treatment.”


In other words, Lachetta turned to microorganisms for help. He added bacteria to the dirty storm

water. And found they started digesting the propylene glycol. The bacteria broke it down into

acidic acid and then carbon dioxide and methane. The process gives the microorganisms fuel to grow.


“The manufacturers refer to propylene glycol as the filling of the Oreo cookie of the microbe world

and very readily digested so we did much experimentation and found total removal. Byproducts are 85

percent pure methane and 15 percent carbon dioxide.”


(sound inside treatment plant)


That pure methane is put to use here – providing heat for the airport’s storm water treatment

plant. It looks like something out of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The room is filled

with a jumble of brightly colored pipes. There’s deep purple, vibrant green and canary yellow. Each

one has a special purpose.


“The large blue pipes are cycling 22 gallons per minute through the large vessels outside standing

35 feet high, 14 feet wide, and the brown pipes are the dirty storm water directly off the aircraft

aprons and the light blue pipes are for the clean water.”


Those pipes run to and from a pair of giant mixing vats. They stir up a brew of dirty storm water,

microorganisms, and some extra nutrients. It’s all cooked at a temperature of 85 degrees. And the

result is clean water.


Shelly Zuskin-Barish is the project manager for the EPA’s Airport Deicing Operations Study. She

says Albany has the most stringent treatment program in the country.


“I was very impressed when reviewing their treatment system. We found they were getting very good

removal in terms of not only propylene glycol but also an additive called tolyltriazole.”


Zuskin-Barish says there’s growing concern about tolytriazole because of its impact on aquatic

life. This is the first system she’s seen that removes it. As for propylene glycol, most airports

use a combination of recycling it and trucking it off site. Albany’s system removes more of the

pollutants, and it’s cheaper. Zuskin-Barish says Albany is on the cutting edge because it had to

be.


Albany airport has a local limit through their own state of 1 part per million propylene glycol.

For the different airports we’ve seen, that’s a very tight limit and I think in large part, pushed

them to go to this technology, which is helping them achieve those levels on a daily basis.


But now, other states – and countries – are starting to crack down as well. And Albany’s Steve

Iachetta is getting lots of visitors.


“We’ve been visited by Tokyo International, some European airports, the Department of Defense, much

larger airports, Denver, Nashville, other hubs that have come to see our early pioneering efforts.

It’s great to be on the leading edge. It’s nice to know we can contribute to improving the

environment.”


Right now, airport pollution controls differ from state to state. But next winter, the EPA will

consider national regulations to govern the disposal of deicing fluid. That may bring even more

visitors to Albany – to find out how a small airport ended up with the country’s most innovative

system.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Karen Kelly in Albany, New York.