Posted on 02/26/2006 9:31:12 PM PST by Lorianne
AP) DENVER Animals on the airfield are causing problems at Denver International Airport, where they can be struck by planes and cause millions of dollars in damage.
Rabbits at the airport are attracting raptors and coyotes that have collided with aircraft, causing damage to windshields and wings. In some cases, animals also can get sucked into jet engines. At least five coyotes were struck by planes at the airport last year.
Animal strikes caused more than $4 million in damage to commercial aircraft at DIA in 2005.
"As fast as those airplanes are going, even if you have a medium-sized bird, that's a pretty big force that can cause damage," said Mike Yeary, U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services director for Colorado.
Bird strikes with aircraft are estimated to cost civil aviation more than $300 million a year nationally. More than 6,300 bird strikes were reported for U.S. civil aircraft in 2004, according to Bird Strike Committee USA.
"If a large aircraft were to hit a large hawk or an owl, especially during a takeoff or landing, that could possibly cause -- at minimum, damage -- and in the worst possible scenario, a crash," Yeary said. "When you get flocks of them they could possibly clog up the jet engines."
The airport contracts with Wildlife Services to try to keep wildlife away. Tactics include shooting off a type of fireworks that frightens birds away or killing rabbits where they are deemed an immediate safety hazard.
DIA also has used a private contractor to relocate rabbits, which sometimes nibble on engine wires of parked cars.
Where's Cheney when you need him?
Jimmah Carter will never fly in there again
These are rabbits, but ... ping, anyway.
oh heck, i can fix that for them. play AC/DC LOUD. my rabbit runs and hides when i crank my tunes. lol
Time to call in the A team...... the NRA!
Hopefully, to someone's meat freezer.
Yep, birds cause problems. Here's one example:
CHI01LA033
On November 8, 2000, at 1800 central standard time, a SAAB-340-B, N402XJ, operated by Mesaba Aviation, Inc., was substantially damaged when the airplane impacted a flock of geese during an approach for landing. The windshield wiper was torn from the airplane. The left composite propeller exhibited impact marks and chordwise scratching on the face of a propeller blade. Metal fragments punctured the left side of the fuselage and one of the fragments hit a passenger in the leg. The airplane landed without incident. The passenger was taken to a local hospital for medical treatment for minor injuries. The pilot, copilot, flight attendant, and the remaining 21 passengers were not injured. The 14 CFR Part 121 Mesaba flight 2831 had departed Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), Minneapolis, Minnesota, and landed at the Aberdeen Regional Airport (ABR), Aberdeen, South Dakota. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and an instrument flight plan was filed.
The Captain reported the airplane was on the ABR ILS Rwy 31 approach at 600 feet above ground level when the airplane impacted a flock of snow geese. The Captain reported he decided to continue the approach for landing. Once on the ground the flight attendant informed the Captain there was a hole in the side of the airplane and that a passenger was injured. The Captain reported a doctor on board the airplane removed a piece of metal from the passenger's leg and administered first aid prior to the ambulance arriving.
The Captain reported, "When we looked at aircraft 402 it was pretty messed up. There were geese in both intakes, three holes in the side, prop blades with pieces missing out of them, a side window busted, both front windows hit and one wiper gone, the other broke off to the side, one gear was hit and one flap."
And all those flapjacks that fall off their heads ain't a pretty picture either.
{ /Monty Python}
By the way, the "one wiper" that was "gone" was also the piece of metal found in the passenger's leg. Exciting flight.
Leni
Damn dirty bunnies! God I hate bunnies!
Obviously, DIA needs a billion dollar grant to replace the grasslands surrounding the runways with Astroturf(tm).
[Thanks to LucyT for the ping.]
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