NAC develops wildlife handbook to monitor birds at airports

THE National Airports Corporation (NAC) has developed a wildlife identification handbook for wildlife management at airports.
According to a statement, the handbook would be used by airport safety officers as a guide when observing and monitoring birds and reporting bird strikes.
“Wildlife hazard management is an important element of operations at all airports,” the statement said.
“Occasionally, wildlife strikes can put the safety of passengers, flight crew and the population on the ground at risk.
“Wildlife around airports can pose serious hazards to aircraft operations.
“The most obvious of these is the presence of birds.
“But other animals such as mammals can also be hazardous around airports.
“Costs are high when operations are affected and when aircrafts are damaged.”
The handbook will be used for correct identification of birds at the airports to ensure accurate reporting.
The handbook is the practical demonstration of NAC conforming to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority rule (part 139.73).
“Collecting accurate information on all bird strikes that occur, including details of the species involved, observation of bird species and bird behaviour, both on the airport and in the surrounding areas is crucial in NAC’s wildlife management effort,” the statement said. “From the species based risk assessment NAC will prioritise its efforts towards the most hazardous species, which will assist the organisation to provide correct mitigation and preventive measures at acceptable levels.”