Big Birds Cause Pilots To Worry At Suvarnabhumi

[sriracha john]

Big birds cause pilots to worry at Suvarnabhumi

Issue raised with new air safety committee

The increasing bird population at Suvarnabhumi airport has pilots worried, with a growing number of reports of bird-related incidents being called in. The International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations (IFALPA), along with the Thai Pilots Association (TPA), yesterday raised the issue at the first meeting of the new air safety committee, which was set up following the tragic crash of a One-Two-Go airlines flight at Phuket airport on Sept 16. Korn Mansumitchai, regional vice-president of IFALPA told the meeting that pilots of various airlines had exchanged concerns on safety threats caused by an increasing number of large birds at Suvarnabhumi.

Large birds common to the area around Bangkok international airport include open-billed storks and oriental pratincole waders. Capt Korn said the danger depended on the size of the birds and the speed of the aircraft. The leg bones of larger birds could damage aircraft engines, he said. Today, the association will warn visiting pilots to fly as slowly as possible if they have to pass a flock of large birds. Sinnop Theprugsa, who represents the TPA, said that over the past six months, there were two major bird-related accidents with Thai Airlines aircraft. A big bird was sucked into an engine of one of THAI's Boeing 747-400 while it was taking off. The plane had to discharge fuel and make an emergency landing for turbine repairs, he said. The repairs cost at least 10 million baht, not to mention other expenses related to compensation to passengers for the delayed flight. ''For THAI, there is a significant bird-related incident at Suvarnabhumi airport once every two months, on average,'' he said. Capt Sinnop recounted an incident involving a Bangkok Airways plane, which was damaged when a bird stuck to a wing pylon, costing the airline hundreds of thousands of baht.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/11Oct2007_news14.php

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An oriental pratincole wader

In 2004, a huge flock of 2.5 million Oriental Pratincoles was recorded in Australia

--------------------------------

Silhouette of an open-billed stork

They, too, can form into huge flocks

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Capt Sinnop said large flocks of birds were gathering at Suvarnabhumi airport and they were not scared away by the loud noise of the aircraft engines.

Edited October 10, 2007 by sriracha john

[taxexile]

Today, the association will warn visiting pilots to fly as slowly as possible if they have to pass a flock of large birds.

[jumnien]

The following is from www.avweb.com; unfortunately the photos didn't copy! I hit a wild chicken on an approach into Sam's airstrip in Kanchanaburi a couple years ago flying a C177rg. Decapitated the chicken, found its body in the engine compartment on landing. Lucky strike!

October 6, 2007

Bird Strike Damage Photos Email this article |Print this article

By Russ Niles, Editor-in-Chief

You may have heard about the Air Tran Boeing 737 that was forced to return to Philadelphia last week after a bird strike. Bird strikes are relatively common so not too much notice was paid, even though the first officer suffered some cuts to his face from broken glass. However, it's amazing how much damage a 10-lb. bird can do to a 100,000-lb. airlines as these photos from a reader show. Despite the damage, the landing was uneventful and most of the 143 passengers were probably unaware of the extent of the damage.

[PadThaiGuy]

Building an airfield in the middle of a wetland might have been a bad idea.

[jumnien]

It's harder to train the birds in Thailand to fly only in wetlands than you might think. Those of us who fly all over Thailand know that there are no places where birds aren't flying. There are no maps available that show restricted areas and flight approaches that are comprehensible to the birds nor have they signed onto any international aviation agreements. This time of year there are migratory raptors all over Thailand fleeing the winters in northern America, northern Asia and Europe. They'll stay about 4 months. The peregrine falcon is one of them that prefer Thailand. There are reports of this bird reaching 400 kilometers per hour in a hunting dive, the fastest animal on the planet. Parked airplanes would seem to be at risk as well!

[sriracha john]

Some examples:

Destroyed jet engine due to bird strike. Aircraft on takeoff phase at 140 knots.

Crash on takeoff resulting from engine damage caused by birds.

Feathers in oil cooler - resulting from bird strike.

[rstone]

I found the following pic on Thaiaviation.net.

It shows quite well the potential risk of bird strikes

Edited October 13, 2007 by rstone

[lomatopo]

There were/are plenty of large white birds at DMK. There was a bird-strike incident with a UA flight back in 2004 which resulted in an aborted take-off, evacuation and a few injuries.

A few days ago taxiing out to 19L at BKK I noticed ~ 8 or so fairly large white birds (egrets?) lounging in one of the drainage ditches.

[Cobalt60]

I thought airports had dedicated bird scaring patrols, playing distress calls of the birds prevelant and firing blanks shots etc. I was sure I read about using falconers and a whole range of measures like this.

Are we saying that this is not happening at the new airport ?

[mart29]

Stick a horn on it.

[tw25rw]

They usually put nets over standing water to keep waterbirds away. At BKK they have large drainage canals there with many egrets. They have also let the vegetation grow.

[p_brownstone]

The Pratincole is not a Wader, it may be more correctly called a Shorebird, and they catch most of their food on the wing, usually in early evening, however they are gregarious and can gather in large flocks (although I must say I doubt the flock of 2.5 million birds, as previously mentioned, is possible).

That said, the new airport is in close proximity to Mangrove and Tidal habitats on the Gulf of Thailand in Samutprakarn (Bangpoo) and the large refuse dumps in the area of Soi On Nuch – all of which attract a variety of birds – and flocks of birds – from small Sparrows all the way up to Open Billed Storks.

So far as I know there is no real effort being made to discourage these birds from encroaching on the Airport environs – something which would be extremely difficult anyway given the availability of easy food sources as already mentioned.

Sadly I feel it can only be a matter of time before there is a significant accident caused by a bird strike at Suvannaphum Airport.

Patrick

[sriracha john]

Oriental Pratincole

The Oriental Pratincole, Glareola maldivarum, is a wader in the pratincole family, Glareolidae.

Their most unusual feature of the pratincoles is that although classed as waders they typically hunt their insect prey on the wing like swallows, although they can also feed on the ground.

On the 7th of February 2004, 2.5 million Oriental Pratincoles were recorded on Eighty Mile Beach in Australia's north-west by the Australasian Wader Study Group. There had previously been no record of this magnitude and it is supposed that weather conditions caused much of the world's population of this species to congregate in one area.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oriental_Pratincole

[waveydavey]

Do these birds have any natural predators?

A friend of mine in England has a few falcons and he's contracted to fly them around several airports to frighten off the local birds. He does the same thing at football stadiums and rubbish tips as well.

[tw25rw]

Do these birds have any natural predators?

A friend of mine in England has a few falcons and he's contracted to fly them around several airports to frighten off the local birds. He does the same thing at football stadiums and rubbish tips as well.

I think part of the problem is that the large birds don't have aerial predators, so they feel secure flying and aren't on the lookout.. Whereas the smaller birds are very alert, but don't do much damage.. Is a problem with pelicans at Sydney which they remedy by covering the standing water within the airfield (though there's water all round the outside). Smaller birds like praticoles, the non wading wader, would probably be scared of a falcon, but their defence would probably be to form a flock and swoop around..

Edited October 22, 2007 by tw25rw

[sriracha john]

SUVARNABHUMI / SAFETY CONCERNS

Birds posing a serious threat to new airport

Danger to aircraft with 44 strikes already

Birds in their thousands are returning to their former habitat, Suvarnabhumi, posing a serious aviation hazard to the country's busiest airport. Forty-four bird collisions with aircraft, or bird strikes, were reported over the past 12 months, with four major incidents in the last two months. The number is expected to rise. Migratory birds, mainly open-billed storks, arrived early this year in the Suvarnabhumi area. Birds rising from a runway or surrounding area and colliding with aircraft have caused expensive structural and mechanical damage to the planes. No crashes and injuries to passengers or crew have been reported, but the potential for a more serious incident is there. Several areas inside the airport perimeter provide suitable habitats for birds with food, water and cover. The airport is located on the migratory routes of several bird species, and unlike nearby residents, these winged creatures are not disturbed by screaming jet engines. Trying to scare them off has not worked. All efforts have proven ineffective.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/29Oct2007_news04.php

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Migratory open-billed storks that flock to Suvarnabhumi airport in their thousands are giving pilots a headache. There’s a danger that the big birds can be sucked into aircraft engines and cause serious damage.

A water drainage canal running along the runway is attracting a lot of birds, increasing the threat of bird strikes to aircraft taking off and landing at the airport.

Wat Utai Tammaram, only six kilometres east of Suvarnabhumi, is under the Airports of Thailand’s close watch for providing shelter and breeding grounds for many bird species, including open-billed storks.

Birds remain undisturbed by aircraft noise and other activities at Suvarnabhumi airport. Lawn mowers are being blamed for causing soil erosion and areas where water can collect — creating food sources for birds.

All photos/descriptions: Bangkok Post

[peter991]

It's definitely a worry - when I lived out on the Nullarbor in outback Australia, we had to drive up and down the emergency runways scaring off kangaroos, before the RFDS (Flying Doctor) planes could land.

The problem with lots of animals is it takes a LOT to scare them away.

Maybe Suvarnabhumi Airport needs a really big bird to scare the other birds away - like this 8 foot 2 inch one!

Peter

[sriracha john]

Thousands of Birds Continue to Obstruct Flights at the New Airport

Aside from the ongoing noise pollution around the residential areas of the airport which led to several deranged protests by nearby residents, thousands of birds had returned to Suvarnabhumi, posing a serious threat to the airline operators at the Suvarnabhumi airport.

Air pilots at the Suvarnabhumi airport were having difficulties with planes’ operations as flocks of birds continue to obstruct flights during take off and landing.

Over the past year, forty four bird collisions with aircrafts had already been reported, where four major incidents occurred in the last two months.

Thousands of birds are returning to their original habitat, Suvarnabhumi, a place dominated by swamps prior to the airport’s construction years ago. Birds in the area have migrated from afar, as major species included pelicans, small cormorants, waterfowls and open-billed billed storks, which flew in to feed on fishes and crop farms around the airport.

During planes’ takeoffs, flocks of birds often rise simultaneously from the runway or surrounding areas to obstruct flights, as many had collided with the aircrafts and caused severe mechanical and structural damages to the planes.

Though crashes and injuries of passengers during flights have not been reported, there is still great potential for fatal accidents in the future if birds continue migrating to the airport.

Airport officials had been trying to chase them away, but the birds kept coming back since the airport was built on their migratory routes aside to being a habitat with an abundance of food and water.

Following concerns raised by the Thai Pilots’ Association regarding bird collusions at the airport on October 10, the Airports of Thailand (AoT) began looking into the matter more seriously than before.

Pilots claimed that results of potential accidents rely on the speed of the aircraft and the size of the birds, adding that if large birds were to be sucked into the aircraft’s engine; their tangled leg bones could cause severe damage to the turbine.

According to an AoT survey conducted from last September to September of this year, the open-billed storks were found posing the most serious threat to flights at the new airport due to their largeness in size.

AoT officials reported that flooded areas at the end of the eastern and western runway, drainage canals along the runways and grassy fields along the eastern runway were attracting flocks of large birds and small birds, since these areas were found with an abundance of food comprising mainly of fishes and various types of fruits.

Aside to the current monitoring of bird activities at the airport, Deputy Transport Minister Sansern Wongcha-um asserted that the aviation safety committee planned to hold a meeting on November 14 to discuss preventive measures and solutions to the existing problem.

- Thailand Outlook

[sriracha john]

The news is moving onto the international stage now with the BBC:

Open-billed stork. Large birds can be sucked into the engines of aircraft on take-off

BBC

Thai airport 'faces bird threat'

Flocks of birds are creating a safety threat at an airport in Thailand's capital, Bangkok, local reports say. Birds have been involved in 44 minor collisions with planes at Suvarnabhumi airport, according to the Bangkok Post.

Thousands of birds are said to be attracted by drainage canals around the runways and food on nearby farms. Earlier this month pilots' groups expressed concern that a major accident could happen if a large bird was caught in the engines of a plane on take-off.

Abundant food

Airports of Thailand (AoT), which runs Suvarnabhumi, monitored the runways after pilots voiced their fears. The organisation found that the most serious threat came from open-billed storks, which gather in flocks of up to 700 and can grow to around 80cm (31.5in) in length.

They also found that the large fish ponds and tall trees at a temple 6km (3.7 miles) away were providing additional food, shelter and breeding grounds for the birds.

Efforts to scare the birds away, including firecrackers and bird nets, have so far failed.

The AoT is now attempting to control rubbish and vegetation around the runways to reduce the amount of food available.

Suvarnabhumi, which means golden land in Thai, opened in September 2006 at a cost of $4bn (£1.95bn).

The construction project was plagued by problems, including cracks in the runway and claims of corruption by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup shortly before the official opening.

A government representative told the Bangkok Post that the newly-formed Thai aviation safety committee will meet in November to discuss possible solutions to the problem.

- BBC

[Tony Clifton]

[mrtoad]

[mart29]

lolol really made me laugh

[Ricardo]

Do these birds have any natural predators?

A friend of mine in England has a few falcons and he's contracted to fly them around several airports to frighten off the local birds. He does the same thing at football stadiums and rubbish tips as well.

I think part of the problem is that the large birds don't have aerial predators, so they feel secure flying and aren't on the lookout.. Whereas the smaller birds are very alert, but don't do much damage.. Is a problem with pelicans at Sydney which they remedy by covering the standing water within the airfield (though there's water all round the outside). Smaller birds like praticoles, the non wading wader, would probably be scared of a falcon, but their defence would probably be to form a flock and swoop around..

Perhaps the military could lend a few anti-aircraft guns, or even SAM-missiles, they can probably use the extra practice anyway ! Or are these already in action, to defend DMK ?

Up here in CNX we have daily military flights - "keeping safe the skies above Chiang Mai" - though I'm not quite sure what the threat is supposed to be ?

[tw25rw]

The news is moving onto the international stage now with the BBC:

Open-billed stork. Large birds can be sucked into the engines of aircraft on take-off

BBC

Thai airport 'faces bird threat'

Flocks of birds are creating a safety threat at an airport in Thailand's capital, Bangkok, local reports say. Birds have been involved in 44 minor collisions with planes at Suvarnabhumi airport, according to the Bangkok Post.

Thousands of birds are said to be attracted by drainage canals around the runways and food on nearby farms. Earlier this month pilots' groups expressed concern that a major accident could happen if a large bird was caught in the engines of a plane on take-off.

Abundant food

Airports of Thailand (AoT), which runs Suvarnabhumi, monitored the runways after pilots voiced their fears. The organisation found that the most serious threat came from open-billed storks, which gather in flocks of up to 700 and can grow to around 80cm (31.5in) in length.

They also found that the large fish ponds and tall trees at a temple 6km (3.7 miles) away were providing additional food, shelter and breeding grounds for the birds.

Efforts to scare the birds away, including firecrackers and bird nets, have so far failed.

The AoT is now attempting to control rubbish and vegetation around the runways to reduce the amount of food available.

Suvarnabhumi, which means golden land in Thai, opened in September 2006 at a cost of $4bn (£1.95bn).

The construction project was plagued by problems, including cracks in the runway and claims of corruption by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup shortly before the official opening.

A government representative told the Bangkok Post that the newly-formed Thai aviation safety committee will meet in November to discuss possible solutions to the problem.

- BBC

I think the best answer is to find some disused land and return it to swap and make it more attractive than the airport to the birds. No idea where there is suitable land though.

[sriracha john]

UPDATE... they had to go somewhere

SUVARNABHUMI BIRDS CHASED FROM HABITAT

Influx of storks seen as threat to mangrove eco-system in Bang Pu

An influx of grey open-billed storks threatens to upset the fragile eco-system of more than 300 rai of mangrove forest in Bang Pu area of Samut Prakan, conservationists say. The birds have been chased from their former habitat near Suvarnabhumi airport. The number of the birds making their homes on mangrove trees in and around the Bang Pu Nature Education Centre has greatly increased since the operation of Suvarnabhumi in September 2005, said Teerayuth Laorthanphol, a senior environmental education officer with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). ''Three years ago fewer than 10 of the birds came to our centre,'' he said. ''There are now more than 1,000 open-billed storks living in the mangrove forest, which is not the usual place for them to live. We are closely monitoring the situation to see what impact there is on the forest. However, the picture is already rather clear, that we are going to be in trouble,'' he said. At least one rai of the mangrove forest was already dying as a result of the large amount of excrement from the big birds. The storks were believed to have been abandoned their former habitat around Suvarnabhumi airport following a major effort by Airports of Thailand to reduce the huge number of nesting open-billed storks in the area, which pose a threat to aircraft safety.

Continued here:

http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/07Feb2008_news05.php

[Briggsy]

Oriental Pratincoles are not big birds. They are very similar in size to the ubiquitous common mynah birds that can be seen everywhere. Why they have been specified here is beyond me and may well be symptomatic of the confused information stemming from a half-baked study.

Asian Openbills are much larger and if anyone would like to take a look alongside the runway, large flocks of these outsized birds can be seen. I recall Philip Round, the Thailand-based ornithologist, warning of this long, long before the airport even opened. Of course long-term planning is nobody's strong point in government here and I think Thaksin's response was, "Our construction workers will eat them." Unfortunately, the construction workers are gone, Asian Openbills are legally protected and birds are able to relocate backwards and forwards using wings.

[sriracha john]

UPDATE...with more bird problems at airports...

Grounded by a bird

A bird strike yesterday forced a Thai Airways International aircraft carrying 124 to turn back to Ubon Ratchathani Airport just minutes after take-off.

"A bird was sucked into the aircraft's turbines," Airport Director Ampawan Wannako says. She says nets at the airport deter most bird strikes.

"The aircraft was full. Then just five minutes into the flight, we heard a loud noise," says Dul Ninprem, a TG1021 passenger.

TG1021, which was scheduled to arrive in Bangkok at 8.50am, was cancelled.

Passengers were booked on a 4pm flight. The airline put the passengers up at a nearby hotel during their wait. The afternoon flight was smooth and arrived safely in the capital.

- Daily Xpress / July 5, 2008

[Briggsy]

This seems to Ubon and not Suvannaphumi.

[h90]

some airplanes should be painted like eagles, to scare away the birds.

[Goshawk]

Oriental Pratincoles are not big birds. They are very similar in size to the ubiquitous common mynah birds that can be seen everywhere. Why they have been specified here is beyond me and may well be symptomatic of the confused information stemming from a half-baked study.

they're quite a bit bigger than Mynah's and when they flock (i've seen them many times around the airport) they pose just as much of a potential problem to aircraft as would a single heron or openbill..

most airports employ 'bird scarers' - nothing more than fire crackers that move the flocks from one part of the airfield to another part of it..

one solution would be to employ several falconers with well trained (they have to be conditioned to be oblivious to the relentless noise) Saker's or Peregrine's. These guys positioned on the periphery of the airfield would make some difference

This is what happens when a heron flies into an engine - or the engine flies into it

some airplanes should be painted like eagles, to scare away the birds.

perhaps if they lose the smile..??