As congestion increases, avoiding collisions between aircraft and birds is becoming a more pressing issue. The Indian Air Force, which conducts many operational and training flights and often at very low level, attributes around 10 percent of accidents to bird hits. It took the lead last year by issuing global bids to four companies for 45 bird detection and monitoring radar systems (BDRS) to be installed at airports and air bases across India.
India’s civil and military aviation is hugely affected due to the absence of key infrastructure and with little control over abattoirs and rubbish dumps dotted on the outskirts of airports. “In the air, the speed of aircraft does not provide much time to the pilot or birds to effect any evasive action and since an avian radar has a range of almost 10 kilometers, the radar gives some lead time to the pilot to avoid bird strikes during the takeoff/landing/circuit flying stage,” S.M Satheesan, a consultant in aircraft bird strike prevention, told AIN.
Full report here AIN
