Jan 16, 2009 4:02 pm US/Central
Experts Try To Prevent Bird-Plane Collisions
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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US Airways Airbus A320 rests against a retaining wall after ditching into the Hudson River in New York on Jan. 15, 2009.
AP
Dive teams were searching the Hudson River Friday for clues in that miraculous splash landing of a US Airways jetliner. Both engines of the plane are still missing.
What's left of the fuselage is tethered to a pier in Manhattan. There are reports that the pilot briefly considered emergency landings at two nearby airports, but ultimately decided the river was the safest option.
The crew radioed that birds struck the engines. It's something that's a concern at many airports. CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman reports.
The FAA and the USDA track bird strikes to domestic aircraft across the country. In 2007, they totaled 7,439. That's the highest number of strikes since the year 2000, when there were 5,872.
We wanted numbers specific to O'Hare Airport. A spokesperson there told us they keep that info to themselves because every airport doesn't track strikes in the same manner. But CBS 2 did learn what O'Hare does to keep planes and birds from meeting.
When you fly out of O'Hare someone on the ground is watching to make sure birds don't have a close encounter with their man-made counterparts.
Travis Guerrant is a wildlife biologist. He says the first line of defense against the animal/aircraft hazard is "habitat modification," making the environment around the airfield as inhospitable to critters as possible.
They're testing Astroturf. "The idea is grass areas are going to harbor insects, prey species, larger animals that will come and eat that," Guerrant said." If you put Astroturf down, you're taking away habitat for prey species so you won't have larger predatory species.
But that is expensive, as are chemical treatments to keep species such as Canada geese away.
The everyday approach includes active patrols -- from dawn till dusk.
"When we encounter wildlife, we disperse them from the airfield," Guerrant said. "Our main technique is using pyrotechnics."
It's all in the name of your safety -- to try and prevent crashes like the one in New York.
And there is something to prevent. A national wildlife strike database reported 178 bird strikes at Illinois airports in the first eight months of 2008.
Not all passengers are worried.
"I know it's an issue, but to me, it's very minor," Tina Lapp said. "I'm more worried about getting in a car than a plane."
An FAA spokesperson said Chicago is in a bird migration pattern area. The wildlife biologist at O'Hare says without management there would be a higher potential of strike risk. That's why they're constantly monitoring the situation.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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