NAIA records 15 bird strikes in 2008

The Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA) recorded 15 bird strikes at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) in 2008, though officials said the collisions between the birds and airplanes in flight did not involve the engines, officials said yesterday.

Aviation experts said the birds could have struck the airplane’s propeller, wings, tail or cockpit. MIAA general manager Alfonso Cusi said these incidents do not pose any danger to the airplanes or the people inside them.

He said the real danger would be if a large bird or many birds would be sucked into the engines of airplanes, such as the one that occurred at the La Guardia airport in New York yesterday.

Cusi said to avoid the same incident at the NAIA, they used pyrotechnics, pre-recorded cries of predatory birds, and physical barriers to deter migrating fowl from flocking to the airport compound.

These measures have been in place at the NAIA for decades, he said. “Birds have been a perennial problem of airport operators worldwide and the NAIA is not an exception,” Cusi said.

Migratory birds flock to the Philippines to escape the harsh winters in temperate countries such as China, Japan, Europe and Russia, he said.

Cusi said that he had also tried to make representations with the cities surrounding the airport to air his concern about residents who raise pigeons and other bird species within a one-mile radius of the NAIA.

He said he has employed people trained to prevent birds from seeking sanctuary within the critical radius surrounding the airport.