Flight safety office brings Balad bird strikes down 30 percent (Real Bird Hunting in Iraq)

Air Force Link ^ | Staff Sgt. Travis Edwards

[SandRat]

12/20/2007 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- With the help of volunteers from around the base, the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing flight safety office reduced the number of bird strikes on aircraft by 30 percent here in November.

They accomplished this through the Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard program, which uses awareness and proactivity to reduce the number of bird-strike threats against aviation assets.

"We are here preserving the Air Force's combat capabilities," said Master Sgt. Brian Saunders, a flight safety office member." Last year alone $42 million in damage was done to Air Force aircraft from bird strikes."

Helping Sergeant Saunders alleviate the avian threat is the "BASH Militia." A team of Army and Air Force volunteers from different specialties throughout the base, armed with pellet rifles to deprivate fowl flocks.

"It's nice to get away from routine work in the office," said Senior Airman Corey Pierce, a 332nd Expeditionary Communications Squadron member. "It's fun and you're helping the Air Force in the process."

For larger birds, like ducks near ponds, the sergeant uses a 12-gauge shotgun filled with clay shots. "The clay shots don't go as far," said Sergeant Saunders, so there is almost no chance of a ricochet hitting anything other than the intended target.

The bird-strike threat is very real. "Birds have been known to take down aircraft and destroy engines, and as a result, kill people," Sergeant Saunders said.

[SandRat]

Master Sgt. Brian Saunders lines up his next shot with a 12-gauge shotgun equipped with "bird scare" Dec. 14 at Balad Air Base, Iraq. The bird scare is shot in the general vicinity of nesting birds and makes a loud noise comparable to a bottle rocket to scare the birds away from the flightline area. Sergeant Saunders and base volunteers helped reduce the number of bird strikes by 30 percent in November. Sergeant Saunders is with the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Safety Office and is deployed from Aviano Air Base, Italy. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Travis Edwards)

A Dream Job!

[SandRat]

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[mtbopfuyn]

A team of Army and Air Force volunteers from different specialties throughout the base, armed with pellet rifles to deprivate fowl flocks.

But what about the well mannered flocks?

[dighton]

Bird strike and emergency landing at Manchester Airport, recorded by Simon Lowe.

Set prefs to Win Media/high quality/large if practical at your connection speed.

[tired1]

what about PETA?

[Jet Jaguar]

BTTT

[advertising guy]

get a slew of Harris Hawks.....

[geopyg]

Interesting. Another sign that we are winning - stories about the hazards of birds on our aircraft! (A few weeks ago the story was the rigors of vehicular maintenance in Afghanistan!)

[dighton]

Falcons cut Mildenhall bird strikes

[do the dhue]

bump

[Chode]

PULL!!!

[advertising guy]

the falcon is being replaced in the west and southwest w/ the Harris Hawk

[KC-10A BOOMER]

When flying from RAF Mildenhall back in my flying days we used to watch the falconer chase the birds from one of the runway to the other. The upside is we never did suffer a bird strike on any missions I flew, but we did run over a very stupid rabbit one morning on takeoff role, got him with the nose gear.

[magslinger]

what about PETA?

I think the 12 ga would work on them, too.