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STUDY OF BIRD HAZARD AT KAI TAK
Tuesday, August 7, 1973
A major study is to be made of the behaviour pattern and feeding
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habits of certain local birds which are a potential hazard to aircraft at
Hong Kong International Airport.
The study, which will take about three years, is part of a long
term programme to eliminate the risk of birdstrikes on aircraft and the
attendant danger to airliners and their passengers.
An ornithologist is currently being recruited by the Agriculture
and Fisheries Department to conduct the study as recommended in a recent
report by a senior British ornithologist.
According to a spokesman for the Civil Aviation Department, the
problem of birdstrikes was a universal one and basically was a phenomenon
of the jet age.
"It is a significant problem," he said, "and a number of short-term
measures are being taken to contain it as far as possible until a more permanent
solution is found."
Special bird patrols had been introduced, he explained, to discourage
birds from frequenting the runway and marksmen from the Fire Services Department
were sent out from time to time to shoot them, under special suspension of bird
protection regulations.
More comprehensive statistics are also being compiled on birdstrikes
and the bodies of dead birds collected from the runway are sent to the
Agriculture and Fisheries Department for biological examination.
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