As many as 15 bird strikes were recorded at the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) in 2014, four times more than the previous year, statistics from the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) show. A bird strike is a collision between a bird and an aircraft that can sometimes have disastrous consequences. The number [...]

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Bird-strikes at MRIA and BIA require prompt attention: Civil Aviation Authority

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As many as 15 bird strikes were recorded at the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport (MRIA) in 2014, four times more than the previous year, statistics from the Civil Aviation Authority of Sri Lanka (CAASL) show.

A bird strike is a collision between a bird and an aircraft that can sometimes have disastrous consequences. The number of bird strikes at the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) in 2014 remained the same as the previous year, at 30.

In 2013, there were only three bird strikes at MRIA. The data recorded last year, therefore, points to a 400 percent increase. This is significant due to the low frequency of flights at that airport. Only SriLankan, Fly Dubai, Mihin Lanka and Rotana Jet use the facility and it receives a fraction of the traffic that BIA does. Thus, the ratio of strikes when compared with the number of flights is high.

According to CAASL, there were 1,525 aircraft movements at MRIA in 2013. Last year, there were 2,289 flights. The number of bird strikes amounts to one every 152.6 flights.

When MRIA was built, it had been widely predicted that there would be a large number of bird strikes due to its rural location and abundance of fauna. Special action is often taken to clear the runways of wildlife, such as deploying vehicles with sirens.

But data uploaded on the CAASL website this week shows that the majority of bird strikes (11) occurred on the ground while two were at 100 feet, one at 500 feet and one at 10,000 feet. Two of them involved peacocks. Three involved sparrows but the rest are not known.

A total of eight accidents occurred in December and four in October. All of them took place during daylight hours. At BIA, a majority of strikes occurred in January, March and April.

The CAASL is likely to treat this rise in bird strikes seriously. In its 2013 annual report, the regulator has already said that the frequency of bird strikes at BIA required immediate attention.

“Compared to bird strikes reported at BIA in 2012, which is 16 (strike rate 0.0003) in total, the bird strikes at BIA in 2013 shows an 88% increase representing 1 bird strike for every 1,667 flights which requires immediate attention of the airport operator,” CAASL said in that report.

The ratio at Mattala is now much higher and may require the airport operator to take urgent measures to avoid a further worsening of the situation.

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