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Planes kill two snowy owls Kevin Allerston Northern News Services Published Wednesday, November 9, 2011
The Department of Transportation is confirming that an Air Canada Jazz flight with 33 people aboard struck a snowy owl on the night of Oct. 28 while landing. The incident was followed Nov. 2 when an Air Tindi Dash-7 struck another snowy owl as it was rolling out for takeoff. Steve Loutitt, manager of the Yellowknife Airport, said collisions with owls are rare. "It's very unusual. I've been at the airport for 24 years and it's not something we normally see. Their breeding area is North of here and their wintering area is south of here, so Yellowknife is one of those areas where they might transition through, but normally we don't see them at the airport. It's an unusual year," said Loutitt. Neither of the planes received significant damage as a result of the strikes, though the Air Canada Jazz flight flew without passengers to Vancouver to get a dent repaired on the leading edge of the right wing. Damage, if any, to the Air Tindi flight was so insignificant that a report was not filed with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSBC). The cost of damages to the aircraft are unknown. Loutitt said in the wake of the strikes, the airport increased patrols designed to keep wildlife at bay. "We've increased our bird and mammal patrols to keep an eye out," said Loutitt. "We do bird and mammal patrols throughout the year. You hear those bird cannons out there that we have in the summer. We have starter pistols and bear-bangers and we scare the birds away," said Loutitt. He said the last option is to have wildlife officials destroy animals which can't be removed from the area. "If the owl was around the runways, we would certainly have to do that if we are unable to scare it off," said Loutitt. "Obviously, the aircraft are of paramount concern." It was a bird that brought down US Airways Airbus A320 in New York's Hudson River in a highly-publicized 2009 incident, when the plane crossed paths with a flock of geese. All passengers and crew survived and pilot Chesley Sullenberger became famous for his landing. "That's why we're so diligent because bird strikes can certainly damage or shut down an engine," said Loutitt. "You can look on news sites and stuff and bird strikes can be devastating. We're doing everything we can to scare them away." Loutitt said he learned, through discussions with environment officials, that because there is now snow covering the ground, the owls can't see their prey and will be less likely to hunt in the area. "Of course, passenger safety is out top priority. I fly on these planes with my family," said Loutitt. "There was no danger to the passengers in either of these two strikes. Jon Lee is the western regional manager for the TSBC. He said bird strikes are reported to the TSBC about 4,000 times a year. "Unfortunately, this is one of the risks of flying, and they can of course be catastrophic, a la what we saw with the flight in the Hudson," said Lee. He said safety is always the top priority, but pointed out that these incidents did not require reporting to the board. "Technically speaking, you would have to have significant damage before an airline would be obligated to report it to us," said Lee. According to the board's regulations, "significant damage" would occur when an aircraft sustains damage or systems failure that adversely affects the structural strength, performance or flight characteristics of the aircraft and that requires major repair or replacement of any component part of the aircraft. "None of those fit what happened to Jazz," said Lee. To put it in perspective, with the 4,000 yearly reports to the TSBC, 1,500 are entered into their database and, of those, approximately 60 get a full investigation resulting in a public report." Representatives with Air Tindi and Air Canada could not be reached for comment. There have so far been 18 collisions with birds in 2011, according to Loutitt.
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