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Egrets are the biggest threat to pilots
MIGRATORY egrets pose the biggest bird-strike threat to airports
here, because of their size.
But it is not just the winged visitors that worry pilots.
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Aside from the pigeons, sparrows, swallows, mynahs and plovers,
there is also the occasional visits from wild dogs, monitor
lizards, snakes and, recently at Tengah Air Base, a wild boar as
well.
To keep them off the runway, airports take many steps:
Pyrotechnics: Flares are fired that set off two loud bangs which
scare the birds away.
Bird distress calls: A hand-held loudhailer broadcasts
digitally-recorded sounds of birds in distress. There is a choice
of crow, pigeon, mynah, sparrow and osprey. The crow call is also
used for egrets. Changi Airport also uses the calls of predatory
birds to scare off visitors.
Chemical repellant: An SMS from the control tower activates a
machine that sprays a non-toxic chemical extracted from grapes
known as methyl anthranilate, that irritates the mucous membranes
of the eyes and mouth of the bird.
Grass cutting: Grass around the airfield is kept to between 15cm
and 20cm for better visibility and to prevent birds from hiding in
it. Closer to the runway, it is longer, between 25cm and 30cm, as
it irritates long-legged fowl such as egrets.
Plugging holes: Holes in the ground are covered so that they do not
collect water which breed mosquitoes and earthworms that attract
birds.
Birds of prey: Goshawks, a powerful and persistent hunter whose
presence will spook other birds, is being tried out at Tengah Air
Base.
Food control: Changi Airport uses pesticides to cut down the number
of insects in the grass. Garbage is not left in the open and fruit
trees are not planted within the airport.
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FOWLER the show bird took off on her maiden military flight at
Tengah Air Base in April, on a mission to scare away birds from the
runway used by fighter planes for take-offs and landings.
But the 10-year-old Harris hawk, a predatory bird from the Jurong
BirdPark, failed to live up to expectations.
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Now, plans are afoot to import two goshawks from Germany - hunter
birds known for their tenacity and strength.
Not that Fowler did not scare birds away. Circling over the
sprawling airfield in Lim Chu Kang Road, she shooed away groups of
crows, swifts and swallows.
But she was not tenacious enough. Said the executive director of
Jurong BirdPark, Dr Wong Hon Mun: 'She's trained for our show. If
the birds fly away, she won't be bothered to go after them.'
Those manning the airstrip of the Republic of Singapore Air Force
(RSAF) - like others around the world - are on a daily lookout for
birds that could collide with planes.
The feathered menace can dent an aircraft's body or be sucked into
its jet engines, forcing an emergency landing or, worse, bringing
it down.
Collision with birds, as well as some deer and other wildlife,
killed more than 150 people globally and destroyed more than 140
planes between 1990 and last year, according to a United States
Federal Aviation Administration report.
US civil aviators lose an estimated US$500 million (S$861 million)
a year to bird strikes, with 5,940 reported cases last year. The US
Air Force lost more than US$50 million to 1,293 bird hits last
year.
Changi and Seletar airports see one to two bird strikes in total
each month, involving small birds like swallows, mynahs and munias
which do not damage aircraft, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation
Authority of Singapore told The Straits Times. However, the monthly
total is 10 for the RSAF at its four airbases in Changi, Paya
Lebar, Sembawang and Tengah.
Pilots have felt the shock of birds hitting their aircraft and
technicians have found blood stains and other remains in the jet
engines.
'The worst is some minor damage to the engine, with a nick or two
on a blade, nothing serious,' said Lieutenant-Colonel Penny Ng, the
commanding officer of Tengah Air Base's flying support squadron.
'But everybody treats it seriously. You simply can't risk life, and
the aircraft are expensive.'
A two-man team patrols the airfield at Tengah and alerts the
control tower on spotting any flock of birds - from pigeons to
plovers - which start warming themselves on the tarmac as the sun
rises.
The airbase's biggest worry is the migratory egret that appears
between September and November because it is larger and could cause
more damage in a collision.
To keep them away, it uses a combination of methods - from keeping
grass long in some areas to poke at the long-legged birds, to
firing loud flares followed by pre- recorded bird distress calls
from a hand-held loudhailer.
About three years ago, it also tested a machine that automatically
sprays a chemical that irritates the eyes and mouths of
birds.
It worked well, until the birds caught on to the times at which the
chemical was released, said Mr Thomas Fernandez, managing director
of home-grown Pestbusters and sole distributor of the German-made
gadget.
The gadget was tweaked so it could be activated by SMS from the
control tower when a flock of birds were spotted on the runway. SMS
is used as other remote-control methods, such as those using radio
frequencies, could interfere with the aircraft. Eight machines now
dot the airfield.
At Changi International Airport, measures include preventing birds
from feeding there.
Pesticides are used to reduce the number of insects in the grass.
Also, garbage is not allowed to be left in the open and no fruit
trees are planted.
Still, there are one or two bird strikes a month and Lt-Col Ng is
not satisfied: 'The idea is to bring it down to zero.'
Here is where the goshawks come in: It takes only one of them to
clear a large area of birds. It will be one more tool in the
arsenal to keep birds away - if it works.
Said Lt-Col Ng: 'It still needs a fair bit of fine-tuning. It's
very early days.'
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Deadly collision: Previous incidents
SEPT 22, 1995: United States Air Force E-3 Airborne Warning and
Control System aircraft strikes about three dozen geese during
take-off in Alaska. The aircraft crashes in a forest about 1.6km
beyond the runway, killing all 24 crew members.
July 15, 1996: Belgian Air Force C-130 transport plane strikes a
flock of birds when approaching runway in the Netherlands and
crashes, killing 34 people on board.
March 8, 2001: A duck crashes through the windscreen of a civilian
Bell 206 aircraft transporting a heart patient to a hospital in
Montana, in the US. The pilot is slightly injured and the duck ends
up in the patient's lap.
Dec 6, 2001: A Boeing 737 strikes a flock of gulls on take-off from
Detroit, forcing an emergency landing. The bill to replace the
engine comes to about US$2.3 million (S$3.9 million).
Source: Bird Strike Committee USA (www.birdstrike.org)
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These birds are a threat to the national security of Singapore as
well as our pilots lives.They are a threat that must be destroyed
immediately,neutralised and exterminated,purged with utmost urgency
and prejudice.
We should deploy at least a battalion of combat infantry to the air
bases or send in the Guards of Commandos to deal with these highly
mobile and dangerous threats.Issue live rounds and let our soldiers
do their job of exterminating a major threat to the security of the
RSAF.
Imagine as well as the savings we could get by cooking all these
birds in the cook house and eating them.An innovative way to cut
costs by providing an alternatice food source,target practice for
our soldiers and it will increase the morale by making our soldiers
more manly.As you fire your gun more and more,you become more
manlyand you get bigger balls.Bigger balls produce more sperm,so we
also help in alleviating the population problem.Eventually,with a
larger population we can invade Indonesia,Malaysia and Thailand and
procreate more with the women,creating a Singaporean super
state,eventually invading China,Russia,India,Paksitan and
Europe.Eventually,we will RULE THE WORLD.
So you see,everthing hinges uopn killing these birds,for it is
through them that we will attain WORLD DOMINATION!
