Sky bird - the horror of

A seagull weighs a few pounds, and the plane weighs tens of tons. But when colliding, the aircraft has little chance of escaping. At Vietnam's Noi Bai airport, there were 14 clashes from 1955 to 1999.

According to the US Aviation Administration, the collision with birds each year robs airlines of over $ 1 billion from the world.

Rivalry opponents

100 years ago, two world aviation figures, Wibur and Orville Wright, realized that the sky was not as big as people thought. The reason is that they collided with the birds in the sky. And they became the first people to start a "war" with birds.

However, the first death victim in the confrontation happened to be Cal Rodgers - a famous American pilot with a pioneering flight across the US territory. During the test flight on Wright's first work - Cal Rodgers Model B - with the newly released iron bird melted with smoke because the control device caught the albatross.

Giant planes are afraid of small creatures.
(Photo: SK & D)

On October 4, 1960, the American passenger jet jet aircraft after taking off from Boston shortly afterward suddenly 3 of its 4 engines were damaged, the plane lost its balance, crashed its head down. lake near the airport, 62 people died. This catastrophic accident began with a flock of starlings. As it turned out, they bumped into the plane and some of them were caught in the intakes of the turbine engines.

It was the most serious incident in the history of aircraft crashed by birds. According to US statistics, since 1965, there have been more than 350 " destructive bird collisions ", injuring injured personnel or damaged aircraft.

More than three-quarters of bird-to-bird crashes occur in areas near the airport. The vast fields that have a barrier that separates the airport from a particular location are attractive to them. Here, the roar of aircraft engines and technical devices hinders them insignificantly. Worse if the airport is located near a large lake or garbage dump.

The statistics show that the most collision with birds causes damage in Asia, then the Americas, at least in Europe. Particularly in Vietnam's Noi Bai airport, from 1955 to 1999 there were 14 cases of aircraft hitting the birds. Tan Son Nhat Airport also had to receive emergency landing flights several times due to this type of incident.

Identify "vandals"

The clashes with the birds of the sky - ' iron birds ' all occur at altitudes below 900m, especially under 600m is the most dangerous space. This means that the problem mainly occurs when the aircraft takes off and lands. It is estimated that a bird weighing 500g when hitting a flying Boeing 747 with supersonic speed may impact up to 5 tons.

The analysis of 40,000 cases described in the statistics of the US Federal Flight Management Organization shows that 56% of crashes that endanger aircraft are the work of ' strange birds '. Only 4% of the crew clearly identified the culprit with information provided by the safety assurance organization.

How to identify 'opponents'? This is extremely important in the next accident prevention effort because each bird has its own habit of responding to an airplane, when it is about to land or take off. If the opponent is identified, the pilots will have appropriate measures when suddenly encountering them. In order to improve the situation, many airlines have organized training courses to recognize birds through their characteristics. Experts also mobilize modern research methods, such as DNA analysis, for training.

The fight against the birds

One of the classic measures is to use professional hunters to destroy and banish birds at the airport area. But this solution often doesn't work because they are cynical with the roar of an airplane engine. In addition, guns can only be chased away for a moment, not often the case also leads to the rise of new flocks to ' fill in the void '. This army became even more dangerous because they were not used to airplanes, they panicked and flew every time the plane took off or landed, greatly increasing the danger.

People also used sound as a weapon to scare birds. Experts have created tapes that mimic the bird's fears or panic at injury. This special weapon is played through loudspeakers in necessary cases. When deployed, it proved effective. But only for a few weeks, they all became ineffective because the opponent had ' deciphered ' the other sounds and realized it was only ' fake '.

The inventors and equipment makers also did not hesitate to use the solution derived from the 'Star Wars' scenario. The laser network was set up to scan the runway of an airport in France. At first, lasers were programmed to illuminate particularly interesting niches of birds, then the laser performed its own quest. Whenever the opponent is discovered, it breaks itself - constantly open, causing the flock of birds to panic and have to wrap the package from the area. It is a great solution, but not every airport has the conditions to equip it.

Recently, at some airports, people returned with a traditional method: using falcons as guards. On the giant airports like JF Kennedy in New York or Okengcie in Warsaw, it is now indispensable for the guardians of the falcon to fly.