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Birds threaten safe air travel
2007-02-24 07:35:29
By Adam Ihucha, Arusha
Bird species are the most serious threat to aircraft than other animals.
They are responsible for 97 per cent of all reported strikes worldwide, the Managing Director of Kilimanjaro Airports Development Company (KADCO), Captain Philemon Kisamo has said.
In his keynote address to the two day East Africa workshop on Bird Hazards at Airport, Capt. Kisamo reminded the audience the bad old days in early 1980s where bird strikes were almost the order of the day at various airports.
The International Bird Strike Committee way back in 1996 observed that between 1912 and 1995 the bird strike related fatal accidents were 42, claiming the lives of 231 helpless crews.
`As many as 80 aircrafts have been destroyed in bird strike related accidents` Capt. Kisamo said, explaining that losses that have been incurred by the industry on average were US$ 1.6 billion yearly, if the 2002 estimates by Canadian expert one Allan is anything to go by.
According to the long serving pilot, the major threat of bird strikes to the aircrafts’ occur due to engine ingestion.
`As the volume of air traffic increases, so is the population of hazardous bird species. These pose a greater challenge to the management of the issue,` he said, stressing that the issue was complicated further by the fact that aircraft were now quieter, had fewer engines and flew faster.
`It has to be noted that though appropriate bird hazard measures may be in place at an airport and that bird strikes are rare, happenings can occur out of the blue. No airfield can claim to be free from this risk,` the KADCO chief said, stressing that `we must not be complacent, as complacency is the enemy of safety.`
In Tanzania, he said, the situation was different as strike of animals at game parks and game reserves had resulted into a number of fatalities.
Officiating at the event, the Deputy Minister for Infrastructure Development, Dr. Maua Daftari, implored academicians, conservationists and aviation experts from East Africa and beyond to come up with stringent measures in controlling wildlife at airports.
`I know aviation and wildlife conflicts have been there from the time the aviation was born, but if not managed and controlled, they can be a big constraint to the growth of the civil aviation in our EA region,` Dr. Daftari said.
The Chairman of KADCO`s board of directors, Arnold Kilewo, said the Kilimanjaro International Airport was now in a position to serve any emerging business and tourism opportunity after a major rehabilitation undertaken by his management.
Aviation industry traffic globally is growing at an average of above four percent, while in Tanzania, domestic and international traffic is growing at an average of about 10 percent. This growth, coupled with the initiative the EA partner states are jointly doing in marketing, makes the region as a tourist and investment destination.
The two-day meeting, the first of its kind to take place in EA region in the history of aviation industry, is coordinated by the Kilimanjaro Airport Development Company.
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