THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The first ever air crash reported in Kerala when an Air India Express flight from Dubai landed in heavy rain at Kozhikode came as a shock. However, a major threat to Thiruvananthapuram International Airport is allegedly being ignored by authorities.
The increasing population of birds in the flight landing path near the airport at Kumarichantha region has posed a threat to pilots and flights for a long time. The disposal of waste in the vicinity of the airport and meat shops near the landing region are found to be the major reason for bird-hit cases. There were instances at the airport when the ground staff found dead birds on the runway.
Earlier, the state and central security agencies had highlighted the increased bird-hit risk at the international airport here as an imminent danger to civil aviation safety. Dozens of flights suffered bird hits over the airport in the last two years according to intelligence officials privy to Airports Authority Of India (AAI) data.
According to the guidelines of the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), less than five bird hits should be expected during every 10,000 plane landings and take-offs.
As per the statistics available from the airport, as many as 44 suspected bird-hits were reported at Thiruvananthapuram airport from January 2019 to December 2019. Of these, 28 cases were confirmed to be bird hits by the authorities. In the first three months of this year, 14 suspected bird-hit cases were reported till March 2020 when the lockdown was imposed.
The Director General of Civil Aviation had pointed out that this figure was very high, compared to other airports in the country. Many pilots had complained that landing at the airport is unsafe due to bird hits.
Though the airport had deployed ten 'bird chasers' to keep the feathered population at bay, there is no dip in the bird population. Among other things, crackers were used to scare the birds off. Garbage dumps attract black kites, crows, cattle egrets and, after dark, owls, according to WWF-India which also has discussed the 'winged problem' faced by the airport.
Last year, the AAI approached the research centre under the forest department to study the issue. The team found that it is due to the dumping of poultry waste near the runway outside the airport.
Sources said that the danger at this airport is being averted due to the expertise of pilots. "Many pilots had to face the threat of birds while landing. However, accidents are being evaded only due to the expertise of pilots. But many pilots also fly to the airport for the first time. They may have to land only after overcoming this imminent danger. Neither AAI nor the corporation has taken any steps," a source said.
According to the corporation, the presence of markets in the immediate neighbourhood of the airport and indiscriminate dumping of fish and meat waste attract scavenger birds, especially black kites and crows, in large numbers, posing a very real threat to the approaching aircraft. Even after the corporation took action against dumping waste, anti-social elements dumped waste again at the same spot. The squads deployed by the corporation to keep a tab on dumping near the airport are not operating since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Meanwhile, CV Ravindran, Airport Director, told The New Indian Express that the airport authorities would ensure that every flight landing on the runway is safe and free from bird hits.
"Right now, there are hardly any instances of bird hits. It is because of our containment measures. We are using crackers and bird chasers to keep the birds away from the airport during the time of landing. The research team who had conducted the study also made various suggestions to keep the birds at bay. So the airport is safe now and we are using all safety measures," he said.