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New Delhi: From loud crackers and zon guns along runways to neem oil, India's largest airports deploy all kinds of tools-some high-tech, some deadly and some just noisemakers-to scare away birds, which are increasingly posing a threat to flight safety. ET Year-end Special Reads Stocks to buy in 2025: 66 ideas from top brokerages for your new year portfolio What does 2025 hold for India's IT services sector? 2025 may be the year of EVs in India, dominated by SUV launches Authorities in South Korea are investigating whether a bird hit brought down the Jeju Air jet that crashed at the Muan airport on Sunday, killing 179 of the 181 people on board. India has recorded a significant increase in bird hit incidents in the past two years, often causing pilots to return the plane to the airport or abort take-off.
According to civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation ( DGCA ), bird hit incidents increased to 9.68 per 10,000 flights in September 2024 from 4.26 two years earlier.
In one of the latest incidents, an Air India flight aborted its take-off at Goa's Dabolim airport in August after smoke started emanating from the plane's engine after a bird hit. A senior DGCA official said airports have been asked to reassess their threat and mitigation measures for bird hits following the Jeju Air crash. "As cities become denser, habitation near airports is also increasing, thereby increasing leftovers of food or animal carcasses which attract big birds like vultures.
All airports have been sensitised about the threat and to review their preparedness," said the official. Artificial Intelligence(AI) Java Programming with ChatGPT: Learn using Generative AI By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) Basics of Generative AI: Unveiling Tomorrows Innovations By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) Generative AI for Dynamic Java Web Applications with ChatGPT By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) Mastering C++ Fundamentals with Generative AI: A Hands-On By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) Master in Python Language Quickly Using the ChatGPT Open AI By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Marketing Performance Marketing for eCommerce Brands By - Zafer Mukeri, Founder- Inara Marketers View Program Office Productivity Zero to Hero in Microsoft Excel: Complete Excel guide 2024 By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Finance A2Z Of Money By - elearnmarkets, Financial Education by StockEdge View Program Marketing Modern Marketing Masterclass by Seth Godin By - Seth Godin, Former dot com Business Executive and Best Selling Author View Program Astrology Vastu Shastra Course By - Sachenkumar Rai, Vastu Shashtri View Program Strategy Succession Planning Masterclass By - Nigel Penny, Global Strategy Advisor: NSP Strategy Facilitation Ltd. View Program Data Science SQL for Data Science along with Data Analytics and Data Visualization By - Metla Sudha Sekhar, IT Specialist and Developer View Program Artificial Intelligence(AI) AI and Analytics based Business Strategy By - Tanusree De, Managing Director- Accenture Technology Lead, Trustworthy AI Center of Excellence: ATCI View Program Web Development A Comprehensive ASP.
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The engines are revved to full power inside a test facility and absorb various kinds of birds, with the size of sparrows to that of herons. Still, a bird hit could pose serious damage to the aircraft and become deadly. Creating awareness While the Delhi airport, India's busiest, reported 169 bird hits in 2023, Bengaluru has not seen any such incidents in the past three years.
"The impact of these incidents was minimal and there were no major disruptions in operations at the airport," a Delhi airport spokesperson said. The airport is trying to tackle the issue scientifically. It has formed a wildlife hazard management team of 14 members, half of them biologists, besides employing the usual tactics of trimming grass and scaring away birds with scarecrows.
It also holds camps for communities staying in the approach path of the runways, sensitising them on garbage management and hygiene to reduce bird strike. Promotional materials such as bottles, bags, and caps with awareness messages are distributed in those camps, the spokesperson said. A Bengaluru airport spokesperson attributed its record of no bird-hit incidents to "proactive measures implemented by our dedicated bird control team, who continuously monitor critical areas of the airport to deter bird activity".
Mapping activities In Mumbai, the airport maps wildlife and bird activities and their behaviour is assessed while within the premises. "Tolerable species are not targeted while the hazardous species are identified, and all mitigation measures are implemented to keep the aerodrome environment sterile from birds and wildlife in the best interest of aircraft and passenger safety," an airport spokesperson said. (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel ).
