Bird strike: FAAN, stakeholders to end menace at airports

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN), is seeking ways of curbing series of bird strikes across airports in the country.

Captain Rabiu Yadudu, Managing Director FAAN, said more needed to be done to stem the scourge of wildlife hazard strikes to ensure aviation safety and reduce financial burdens on airlines.

This is just as he stated that FAAN was doing a lot to ensure the dispersals of birds around the airports including discovering and removing their nests.

Captain Yadudu made this known at a symposium on Reduction of Wildlife Strike Hazards at Nigeria Airports where he said ICAO stipulates that bird strikes account for 3.6 per cent of all aviation-related incidents.

Captain Yadudu, however, stated that the figures from ICAO although looking small is major giving the fact that a lot of these strikes go unnoticed while some are unrecorded.

“Wildlife strikes affect airports small and large in all regions of the world. It is both a risk to aviation safety and financial burdens,” the FAAN boss said.

Also speaking, Director of Airport Operations, Captain Mukhar Muye said when aircraft has invented the risks of sharing the skies with birds were not considered, stating that it causes the collusions between both overtime.

He, however, said FAAN was doing it’s best and have embarked on projects that will help check BASH at all airports.

He explained that the airport authority will be taking delivery of some Phoenix Bird Wailers to enable it to scare away birds around the aerodrome to aid in the battle to reduce the strikes.

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He also raised various salient questions to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) on laws that will help the mitigation of bird strikes around the nation.

He asked if flights should be delayed to accommodate wildlife management activities and if the crew can rely on data from wildlife management personnel to have safer operations among other questions.

An Arik Air pilot, Captain Jide Bakare who spoke on the impact of birds strikes to the airlines operations have been financially intensive to the airline with major impacts in Port Harcourt and Enugu.

While Alhaji Bola Ahmed of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) called for a little patience to enable both airport operator and airline control birds to avoid the destruction of engine landing gear, windshield and so on.