FAA Puts Pressure on Airports to Reduce Bird Strikes

Online, October 17, 2009 (Newswire.com) - he FAA is putting an increased emphasis on wildlife hazard management at airports. FAA required Bird/Wildlife Site Visits are becoming more common.

A site visit is a preliminary assessment that takes from one day to a week to complete. Although a site visit is not as extensive as a year long Wildlife Hazard Assessment it does provide the airport operator with information regarding the wildlife hazards at their airport and evaluates their current wildlife management strategy.

The site visit must be conducted by an Airport Wildlife Biologist that meets the requirements of AC 150/5200-36. Both personnel working for private contractors and USDA WS must meet these requirements. It is important that the airport verifies the qualifications of the individual conducting the site visit.

The main component of the site visit consists of a tour of the operations area by a Qualified Airport Biologist (Click for details) to help identify potential wildlife hazards. During the site visit the Qualified Airport Biologist will also review the airport's strike reports, wildlife incident/harassment logs, and wildlife depredation permits and activity reports.

Following the site visit, a detailed report will be compiled that analyzes the results of the site visit and provides recommendations to reduce the potential for wildlife hazards at your airport. The site visit report will also point out the positive measures that the airport is taking to reduce wildlife hazards.

What does this mean for your airport? If the FAA has not required you to conduct a site visit, you do not have to conduct one. However, it is in the best interest of all airports to understand all of the potential wildlife hazards that occur on and around their airport. The information gathered during the site visit can go a long way in reducing the amount of wildlife hazards at your airport. If your airport has been required by the FAA to conduct a site visit, the information gathered during the site visit will be sent to their attention and they will then determine if a year long Wildlife Hazard Assessment is necessary.

If you have any questions regarding this information or would like to schedule a site visit with a Certified Airport Wildlife Biologist please contact me at your convenience at 607-760-8747.

For more information regarding Wildlife Hazard Management please visit our website; www.airportwildlife.com or the FAA's Wildlife Mitigation website; http://wildlife-mitigation.tc.faa.gov/public_html/index.html