For the Birds
The FAA and USDA continue studying the use of drones to ward off potential bird strikes around airports.
By Jim Tise, FAA
When you’re looking out an airplane window, you’re supposed to see wings. You know, the metallic kind that helps lift the aircraft into the air. But what you don’t want to see are the feathered kind. In that case, the FAA must cry fowl.
Birds have posed a threat to pilots since the dawn of aviation. As air travel has increased, so has the chance of colliding with birds. The “Miracle on the Hudson” accident is just one such example.
This year, the number of reported bird strikes is expected to reach an all-time high — about 17,500. So, the FAA, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is studying how drones might be used to keep birds away from airplanes when they are taking off and landing.
Testing will begin at Atlantic City International Airport in New Jersey by the end of this year. The FAA hopes to have an analysis of the testing and recommendations on the future use of drones to ward off bird strikes by the end of 2025.
“We’re doing all this for the safety of the flying public,” said Wesley Major, an airport research specialist for the FAA. “Wildlife are always present around airports. We’re always looking at emerging tools and technology that will benefit the flying public’s safety.”
The drones can be flown at targeted species to disperse them when traditional airport wildlife mitigation measures are inadequate. They can also be used to surveil in and around the airport looking for burrows, nests/roosts, and other areas that are hard to access by foot or vehicle.
The FAA is applying bird/habitat research gathered at off-airport locations by the USDA and Mississippi State University to its latest testing regimen at Atlantic City.
“Habitat, food and mating are the main drivers that attract species to a given area,” explained Major. “We need to limit those attractants in the airport environment.”
Atlantic City offers an excellent testing environment: It is home to the FAA’s William J. Hughes Technical Center, which is overseeing the FAA’s bird strike research. The USDA has a full-time presence on their airfield and has performed data-gathering there in the past. More importantly, Atlantic City is a favored habitat for turkey vultures, a large fowl that can cause a lot of damage if they collide with airplanes.
“We want to make the habitat around Atlantic City Airport less attractive to this species,” Major said. “There’s a lot of green space for them to go in New Jersey. We just don’t want them around the airport.”
The USDA’s certified pilots will launch drones throughout all four seasons, during daytime and nighttime, at different altitudes and in variable weather conditions. The agency will coordinate all testing with the FAA and Atlantic City Airport and will monitor air traffic control frequencies to ensure the drones remain clear of approach and departure paths.
The USDA will operate the drone, an Autel EVO II quadcopter, on flights of up to 400 feet in altitude. Other drones will be used on an as-needed basis.
“We get the best response from quadcopters,” said Major. “These quads are the most nimble and can take off and land almost anywhere.”
Drones could potentially supplement existing wildlife-mitigation methods. These include cap gun-style firearms that emit flares and noise — aka “bangers and screamers” — using sound cannons to disperse birds and removing the elements of habitat that attract fowl in the first place.
“We’re looking at where wildlife is, what tools are at an airport’s disposal to ward them off, and which are most effective,” Major said. “A drone may not be the first tool at their disposal, but it will give you that extra reach that you may need.”
