http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/singapore/story/0,4386,269939,00.html?
Egrets are the biggest threat to pilots
MIGRATORY egrets pose the biggest bird-strike threat to airports here, because of their size.
But it is not just the winged visitors that worry pilots.
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Aside from the pigeons, sparrows, swallows, mynahs and plovers, there is also the occasional visits from wild dogs, monitor lizards, snakes and, recently at Tengah Air Base, a wild boar as well.
To keep them off the runway, airports take many steps:
Pyrotechnics: Flares are fired that set off two loud bangs which scare the birds away.
Bird distress calls: A hand-held loudhailer broadcasts digitally-recorded sounds of birds in distress. There is a choice of crow, pigeon, mynah, sparrow and osprey. The crow call is also used for egrets. Changi Airport also uses the calls of predatory birds to scare off visitors.
Chemical repellant: An SMS from the control tower activates a machine that sprays a non-toxic chemical extracted from grapes known as methyl anthranilate, that irritates the mucous membranes of the eyes and mouth of the bird.
Grass cutting: Grass around the airfield is kept to between 15cm and 20cm for better visibility and to prevent birds from hiding in it. Closer to the runway, it is longer, between 25cm and 30cm, as it irritates long-legged fowl such as egrets.
Plugging holes: Holes in the ground are covered so that they do not collect water which breed mosquitoes and earthworms that attract birds.
Birds of prey: Goshawks, a powerful and persistent hunter whose presence will spook other birds, is being tried out at Tengah Air Base.
Food control: Changi Airport uses pesticides to cut down the number of insects in the grass. Garbage is not left in the open and fruit trees are not planted within the airport.
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FOWLER the show bird took off on her maiden military flight at Tengah Air Base in April, on a mission to scare away birds from the runway used by fighter planes for take-offs and landings.
But the 10-year-old Harris hawk, a predatory bird from the Jurong BirdPark, failed to live up to expectations.
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Now, plans are afoot to import two goshawks from Germany - hunter birds known for their tenacity and strength.
Not that Fowler did not scare birds away. Circling over the sprawling airfield in Lim Chu Kang Road, she shooed away groups of crows, swifts and swallows.
But she was not tenacious enough. Said the executive director of Jurong BirdPark, Dr Wong Hon Mun: 'She's trained for our show. If the birds fly away, she won't be bothered to go after them.'
Those manning the airstrip of the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) - like others around the world - are on a daily lookout for birds that could collide with planes.
The feathered menace can dent an aircraft's body or be sucked into its jet engines, forcing an emergency landing or, worse, bringing it down.
Collision with birds, as well as some deer and other wildlife, killed more than 150 people globally and destroyed more than 140 planes between 1990 and last year, according to a United States Federal Aviation Administration report.
US civil aviators lose an estimated US$500 million (S$861 million) a year to bird strikes, with 5,940 reported cases last year. The US Air Force lost more than US$50 million to 1,293 bird hits last year.
Changi and Seletar airports see one to two bird strikes in total each month, involving small birds like swallows, mynahs and munias which do not damage aircraft, a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore told The Straits Times. However, the monthly total is 10 for the RSAF at its four airbases in Changi, Paya Lebar, Sembawang and Tengah.
Pilots have felt the shock of birds hitting their aircraft and technicians have found blood stains and other remains in the jet engines.
'The worst is some minor damage to the engine, with a nick or two on a blade, nothing serious,' said Lieutenant-Colonel Penny Ng, the commanding officer of Tengah Air Base's flying support squadron. 'But everybody treats it seriously. You simply can't risk life, and the aircraft are expensive.'
A two-man team patrols the airfield at Tengah and alerts the control tower on spotting any flock of birds - from pigeons to plovers - which start warming themselves on the tarmac as the sun rises.
The airbase's biggest worry is the migratory egret that appears between September and November because it is larger and could cause more damage in a collision.
To keep them away, it uses a combination of methods - from keeping grass long in some areas to poke at the long-legged birds, to firing loud flares followed by pre- recorded bird distress calls from a hand-held loudhailer.
About three years ago, it also tested a machine that automatically sprays a chemical that irritates the eyes and mouths of birds.
It worked well, until the birds caught on to the times at which the chemical was released, said Mr Thomas Fernandez, managing director of home-grown Pestbusters and sole distributor of the German-made gadget.
The gadget was tweaked so it could be activated by SMS from the control tower when a flock of birds were spotted on the runway. SMS is used as other remote-control methods, such as those using radio frequencies, could interfere with the aircraft. Eight machines now dot the airfield.
At Changi International Airport, measures include preventing birds from feeding there.
Pesticides are used to reduce the number of insects in the grass. Also, garbage is not allowed to be left in the open and no fruit trees are planted.
Still, there are one or two bird strikes a month and Lt-Col Ng is not satisfied: 'The idea is to bring it down to zero.'
Here is where the goshawks come in: It takes only one of them to clear a large area of birds. It will be one more tool in the arsenal to keep birds away - if it works.
Said Lt-Col Ng: 'It still needs a fair bit of fine-tuning. It's very early days.'
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Deadly collision: Previous incidents
SEPT 22, 1995: United States Air Force E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft strikes about three dozen geese during take-off in Alaska. The aircraft crashes in a forest about 1.6km beyond the runway, killing all 24 crew members.
July 15, 1996: Belgian Air Force C-130 transport plane strikes a flock of birds when approaching runway in the Netherlands and crashes, killing 34 people on board.
March 8, 2001: A duck crashes through the windscreen of a civilian Bell 206 aircraft transporting a heart patient to a hospital in Montana, in the US. The pilot is slightly injured and the duck ends up in the patient's lap.
Dec 6, 2001: A Boeing 737 strikes a flock of gulls on take-off from Detroit, forcing an emergency landing. The bill to replace the engine comes to about US$2.3 million (S$3.9 million).
Source: Bird Strike Committee USA (www.birdstrike.org)
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These birds are a threat to the national security of Singapore as well as our pilots lives.They are a threat that must be destroyed immediately,neutralised and exterminated,purged with utmost urgency and prejudice.
We should deploy at least a battalion of combat infantry to the air bases or send in the Guards of Commandos to deal with these highly mobile and dangerous threats.Issue live rounds and let our soldiers do their job of exterminating a major threat to the security of the RSAF.
Imagine as well as the savings we could get by cooking all these birds in the cook house and eating them.An innovative way to cut costs by providing an alternatice food source,target practice for our soldiers and it will increase the morale by making our soldiers more manly.As you fire your gun more and more,you become more manlyand you get bigger balls.Bigger balls produce more sperm,so we also help in alleviating the population problem.Eventually,with a larger population we can invade Indonesia,Malaysia and Thailand and procreate more with the women,creating a Singaporean super state,eventually invading China,Russia,India,Paksitan and Europe.Eventually,we will RULE THE WORLD.
So you see,everthing hinges uopn killing these birds,for it is through them that we will attain WORLD DOMINATION!
