Avicast – Details, episodes & analysis

Although most wildlife strikes do not result in significant damage or catastrophic consequences, having a well-defined system for investigation when this does occur will help explain why the strike occurred, how it may be avoided in the future, and it may even be useful is cases of litigation. Significant strike investigations collect key data relating to the species, the aircraft, the airport, meteorological conditions, and so on, to provide a complete picture of the strike event. Dr Jeff McKee joins Kylie Patrick to talk about the how and why of strike investigation.

Melbourne Airport is the primary airport serving Melbourne, Australia. With the upcoming addition of their third runway, they will be facilitating more than 77 million passenger movements and 429,000 aircraft movements each year. And their current wildlife management program is in a very good position to manage any increase to the wildlife strike risk. In this episode, Kylie Patrick talks to Fiona Beach (Airfield Safety and Operations Coordinator) and Bevin Buchanan (Senior Airside Safety Officer) from Melbourne Airport about their wildlife issues and how their program is managing them.

Melbourne Airport Wildlife Hazard Management Policy

Melbourne Airport LinkedIn

AAWHG 2022 Forum Registration and Information

In April 2020 COVID-induced travel restrictions reduced aircraft movements by 80% globally, which was unarguably the greatest challenge the aviation industry has ever faced. But how did the sudden downturn in aircraft activity influence wildlife using airports? And what did this look like for strike numbers and rates?

Joining Kylie Patrick in this episode is aviation professional Dan Parsons who has been keenly analyzing strikes and aircraft movement data throughout the pandemic

Dan Parsons - LinkedIn

The Runway Centreline blog page

FAA presentation at the World Birdstrike Association conference

ICAO COVID-19 related ATS mitigations to potential hazards

ICAO COVID-19 economic impact

Corona virus impact on the aviation industry worldwide

Journal: Human-Wildlife Interactions

Dr Jeff McKee, Avisure’s Director of Research & Development joins Kylie Patrick to talk about large bats called flying-foxes. Infringing critical airspace sometimes in their thousands, they can present a serious strike risk, and are difficult for airports to manage, not just because of their numbers but also because they rarely use the airport itself as a resource. In this episode we introduce the flying-fox, why they are a strike risk, and how airports and other aviation stakeholders can mitigate their risk.

Australian flying-foxes

Australian flying-fox distribution

Flying-foxes (general)

National monitoring program

Australian Bat Lyssavirus

Hendra Virus

Western Sydney University Animal Ecology Lab Justin Welbergen

AVCRM 

Airside Tracker

Tap Forms

Noggin

Avisure Services

Pacific Northwest Raptors

Downriver Farm

Hungarian Mudi

Fraser River Delta

Snow Goose

Mallard

Glaucous-winged Gull

Green-winged Teal

Great Blue Heron

Red-tailed Hawk

Rough-legged Hawk

Short-eared Owl

Barn Owl

Bald Eagle

Barn Swallow

Coyote

When it comes to managing wildlife hazards on airports, you want to make sure that whoever is doing that management, knows what they are doing. And just like every other aspect of aviation safety management, training is critical. In this episode Kylie Patrick (Principal Consultant) is joined by Jeff Follet (General Manager for Avisure Services) and they talk about what training requirements look like around the world, and what it should look like. A must-listen-to episode for anyone that needs training and for those who are developing and delivering it.

FAA Advisory Circular 150_5200-36

Australia CASA Manual of Standards Part 139

Australian Aviation Wildlife Hazard Group - Recommended Practice 5.1.1 Training and Competency

Canada CAR 322

Brazil RBAC 153

ICAO Doc 9137

EASA Rules for Aerodromes

Transport Canada - Sharing the Skies

Transport Canada - Wildlife Control Procedures Manual

Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca) are a problem at many Australian airports, but managing ibis off-airport is the key to managing them on-airport. In this episode we join the collective experience from Avisure and our sister company Ecosure to talk about ibis management. Joining Kylie is Martin Ziviani (Senior Wildlife Biologist), and our very special guest Carla McKevitt (Ecologist) from Ecosure.

Ecosure

Ibis management (Ecosure)

Australian White Ibis

Straw-necked Ibis

Adult call copyright Fraser Simpson and Chick call copyright Pritam Baruah