The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) yesterday said it is building a database to record bird strikes at airports nationwide, with airport and airline personnel to be given access to the data at the end of this year.
There were 101 bird strike incidents in Taiwan last year, up from 83 in 2021, CAA data showed.
Three of last year’s incidents caused damage to aircraft, the data showed.
Photo: Ting Yi, Taipei Times
The most serious incident was in October last year, when an engine of a Tigerair Taiwan aircraft was disabled while on its descent to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) after a collision with two large bean geese, which are normally found in polar regions and are not often seen in Taiwan, the CAA said.
Most bird strikes in Taiwan are with nightingales, cattle egrets, crested mynas or pigeons, the agency said.
Last year, Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport reported 22 bird strike incidents, Kaohsiung International Airport and Songshan airport reported 17 each and Taichung International Airport reported 14, the data showed.
Bird strikes are most frequent during ascent and descent, CAA airport management division director Huang Wu-chiang (黃武強) told a news conference in Taipei.
Airport personnel should drive away birds while inspecting runways and areas surrounding airports, Huang said.
“In the past, airport personnel had to fill out paper forms to report bird strikes and our staff manually compiled the statistics,” he said. “Once the database is launched, we can use the data to conduct statistical analyses, which would become the basis for implementing preventive measures for bird strikes.”
Having a responsive Web design, the database is compatible with mobile devices and enables users to obtain geographical information about incidents, he said.
The user interface was designed with a business intelligence concept, which allows people to create data visualizations, analyze data and report results to facilitate operational decisionmaking and strategic planning, Huang said.
Airport personnel can make database inquiries, including bird species commonly spotted at or near airports, reports of bird strike incidents, measures that have been implemented to prevent bird strikes and management of dovecotes near airports, he said.
Once the database is launched, accurate information about bird strikes can be instantly shared among airport personnel across Taiwan, he said.
The database, which has been in testing since June, would be open to use by airport personnel and the air force’s combat wings, Huang said, adding that airlines would be able to report bird strikes.
Air horns, pyrotechnics and nets are ways that airport personnel can keep birds away from airports, the CAA said, adding that it is important to keep bird habitats as far from airports as possible.
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
Taiwan is doing everything it can to prevent a military conflict with China, including building up asymmetric defense capabilities and fortifying public resilience, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said in a recent interview. “Everything we are doing is to prevent a conflict from happening, whether it is 2027 or before that or beyond that,” Hsiao told American podcaster Shawn Ryan of the Shawn Ryan Show. She was referring to a timeline cited by several US military and intelligence officials, who said Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) had instructed the Chinese People’s Liberation Army to be ready to take military action against Taiwan
RSS