The recent Ahmedabad case raised serious concerns on the aviation safety and protocols in India, Even as investigators inquire into whether the fatal plane crash on June 12 close to Ahmedabad’s Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport was caused by a bird hit or not, data shows that the number of such hits in India has doubled from 2019 to 2023.
“The analysis of data regarding wildlife (bird/ animal) strikes indicates that the maximum number such strikes on airplanes occurs during the landing and take-off phases,” pointed out a document of the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation, a copy of which is with this correspondent, indicating that bird hits are the top problem.
Senior officials from the Airports Authority of India (AAI) complained that the norms and standard operating protocols (SOPs) to reduce aircraft-animal collisions have largely been confined to paper, magnifying the flight-bird hit risk in the country.
Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport stood out as the most affected airport, followed by Mumbai’s Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in terms of gross number of hits during the period. However, the rise in bird hits in recent years was steepest in Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel International Airport, now the site of one of the biggest aviation disasters in Indian history.
Experts, and even a few Air India pilots without wanting to be quoted, shared the bird hit concern in Ahmedabad with the media. “The Ahmedabad airport has long been known for bird activity near the runway, which could have contributed to the incident … the issue of excessive presence of birds near the airport has been flagged multiple times,” claimed pilots.
Aviation expert Captain Mohan Ranganathan said bird hits, or birds being sucked into both engines, could not be ruled out in the June 12 tragedy. The expert explained that the growth of grass near the runway during the monsoon attracts a lot of insects, which in turn, attract birds.
Shocking statistics
The data accessed by this correspondent was also tabled in the Rajya Sabha at the end of 2023 by the then Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation, General V K Singh, in response to a question posed by Trinamol member of Parliament, Shantanu Sen. It revealed that the total number of animal hits to flights in 2019 throughout India was 535 in 2019 — about 1.5 hits per day in India. This figure has shot up in excess to 100 per cent in five years to reach 1,123 in 2023 (calculated till October 31). That is more than three hits per day.
According to the data, Ahmedabad’s was the third highest animal-hit airport in India from 2019 to 2023 with 266 hits, behind table topper Delhi with 609 hits and Mumbai with 295 hits. But the rise in the number of bird hits at Ahmedabad airport between 2022 and 2023 was highest among major Indian airports. Ahmedabad had 39 hits in 2022 and 81 in 2023.
Kolkata, with 154 hits between 2019 and 2023, is seventh on the list of ‘most hit airports’ in India. However, it was found to be the only major metro with a rising bird hit trend: 45 hits in 2023, compared to 31 the year before.
“Bird strikes are a serious aviation safety concern, and the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has taken steps to address this issue. We take multiple steps like cutting grasses, using bird catchers, and, blasting fireworks to prevent bird incursion in take-off and landing zones. But we cannot do anything beyond airport areas,” said Kalyan Choudhury, retired executive director of Air Traffic Control in the country to this correspondent.
On-ground implementation?
“We have guidelines and SOPs in place to minimise bird hits to flights but hardly have any control beyond the periphery of the airports. While there should have been at least one kilometre of buffer zone after the dedicated airport area, neither has the government promulgated any specific norm nor the local administration, in charge of the area, in controlling birds in the vicinity,” observed a senior AAI official from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata.
“You will find that shops and markets have mushroomed close to most airports across the country, and waste is being dumped. This attracts birds that create problems for flights either taking off or landing in airports,” added the official.
According to sources, an Airfield Environment Management Committee (AEMC) comprising all the stakeholders is formed at each airport to identify and address sources of bird attraction. But the functions of such committees are mostly limited to paperwork. “We hold these meetings for the sake of maintaining DGCA guidelines. But there has been hardly any implementation,” admitted another senior official.
According to sources, several regulations are in place to stop bird hits in airport areas including Rule 91 of the Aircraft Rules, 1937. It prohibits dumping of garbage and slaughter of animals within 10 km of an airport’s reference point as these attract birds. There is also the civil aviation norm that mandates aerodrome operators to evaluate wildlife hazards and take action to minimise collisions.
“Tell me which major airport in the country does not have garbage dumps and markets doing animal slaughter within 10 km; unless the local administrations become serious, the bird menace will continue,” added an official. Local administrations, when quizzed, passed the onus on airport authorities. “Do they conduct any awareness or facilitate action on ground apart from organising meetings?” asked a chairperson in a municipality close to the airport in Kolkata.
In August 2022, the Union aviation ministry’s response to a Parliament query underlined that the DGCA had issued several guidelines to prevent bird hits at airports. The guidelines included checking incidents of plane collisions with birds and other animals at airports across the country, obligatory and routine patrols in random patterns, among others. It also pointed out the need to inform pilots whenever there is any wildlife activity so that such incidents could be prevented.
In its circular, the aviation regulator requested all airport operators to review their wildlife hazard management programme to identify the gaps and ensure that the guidelines are strictly implemented in the vicinity of an aerodrome. The airports have also been asked “to carry out a wildlife risk assessment and rank them according to the risk posed to aircraft”. The DGCA circular said the airports must have a procedure to monitor and record wildlife movement data.
An Aerodrome Advisory Circular, AD AC 06 of 2017, had been issued to aerodrome operators for implementing an effective wildlife control mechanism for their aerodrome to control wildlife strikes. Clearly, the circular hardly had any effect on the ground as another one was issued after five years — Aerodrome Advisory Circular AD AC 01 of 2022 — that asked to identify the gaps and ensure strict implementation of a plan for wildlife hazard management on and in the vicinity of the aerodrome.
In 2009, a parliament deliberation on bird hits pointed out that all state governments, through their chief secretaries, were already intimated by the DGCA regarding the constitution of Airfield Environment Management Committee (AEMC) headed by the chief secretary/commissioner or head of the district, at airports.
The parliament deliberation also advised that “… AEMC should take proactive measures on time- bound basis to ensure that no illegal slaughterhouses, garbage dumps etc. exist in the vicinity of airports, which is a source of increased bird activity and may lead to wildlife strikes to aircraft during approach/take-off”.
Hardly anybody cared in the last 15 years.
Causes of bird strikes observed over the years:
Bird Strike by Flight phase:
