The aviation regulator on Saturday told airport operators to carry out wildlife species risk assessments and rank them according to the risk posed to aircraft and decide on mitigation steps to be taken.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) instruction comes after incidents of bird hits continue to be reported. On August 4, a Go First flight from Ahmedabad to Chandigarh had to return minutes after take-off due to a bird hit.
In June, DGCA asked airports to review their hazard management plan for wildlife that poses a threat to aircraft flight safety.
Saturday’s aerodrome is seen as a follow-up to the June advisory to ensure compliance and requires all airport operators to submit monthly action-taken reports on the implementation of the wildlife hazard management programme. It also asks them to provide monthly data on wildlife strikes and the action taken.
DGCA said that routine patrolling is the core of the wildlife hazard management programme (WHMP) and asked airports to conduct inspections, observations, interventions and keep records.
{{/usCountry}}DGCA said that routine patrolling is the core of the wildlife hazard management programme (WHMP) and asked airports to conduct inspections, observations, interventions and keep records.
{{/usCountry}}The regulator added that the patrols should be carried out in a random pattern rather than a regular route so that wildlife do not ‘learn’ or become accustomed to the timing of patrols. It also told them to ensure that the wildlife hazard management programme is fully effective and correctly implemented to provide safety assurance to all aircraft operators.
“Establish procedures to monitor and record wildlife/bird movement data,” the regulator’s circular said. HT has reviewed a copy of the circular.
DGCA has also made it mandatory for the airports to provide bird movement logs in the aerodrome area along with the number and size of species, activity in categorized aerodrome areas, its flocking behaviour, size of the wildlife and movement patterns and the history of the strike.
“Establish procedure for pilot notification in response to any significant wildlife concentration or activity both on and in the vicinity of the aerodrome,” the circular said. Airports have also been told to identify the source that attracts wildlife in the aerodrome and its surrounding areas.
DGCA said regular surveillance of the aerodrome is necessary to spot hazardous wildlife and so the wildlife control operators should determine high-risk areas and spend more time in those areas.