Vigilance key to 386th SE BASH program

Published March 12, 2009
By Staff Sgt. Thomas J. Doscher
386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- "I can't even remember the last time anyone hit anything here," Lt. Col. Tom Griesbaum, 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Safety chief, said. "We don't really have a bird problem here."

This belief doesn't stop Colonel Griesbaum and the members of the 386th AEW Safety Office from finding ways to make their Bird Aircraft Strike Hazard program better.

"The biggest thing we're doing right now, even though we don't have a great risk here, is to make sure we remain vigilant to the potential," Colonel Griesbaum said. "That's really all we can be. We're very fortunate here at this base that we have such a low risk and do not have the issues that other bases have."

Bird strikes have been on the mind of many safety officers and airfield managers since two geese brought down U.S. Airways Flight 1549 in January, forcing the pilot to ditch the Airbus 320 into New York's Hudson River.

Although Colonel Griesbaum said the odds of a double bird strike happening here are extremely low, he nevertheless asked Michael Begier, U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal Plant Health Inspection Service and a consultant to the National Transportation Safety Board on the Flight 1549 incident, to review their program during a visit to the base in February.

"We wanted to stop and take a look at the BASH plan," Mr. Begier said. "He (Colonel Griesbaum) wanted us to take a look at it and see if it was working for the base. We've been driving around and looking at the different wildlife issues on the base."

Mr. Begier said he would send a report to the Safety Office, but Colonel Griesbaum said the initial findings were reassuring.

"He didn't have a smoking gun that he pointed at," he said. "We knew we had birds around here, we knew we had animals. We found that we have more than a lot of people think, but the way our environment is set up, the patterns the birds fly is not right across the runway. He's going to give us some ideas, but really there were no revelations. He told us to keep vigilant."

"There's a good program in place," Mr. Begier agreed. "Judging from the people we've talked to and the wildlife I've seen, it seems there are very low populations of wildlife here, but it's good to try to manage the risks you have. All programs can be better."

The biggest threat Safety sees on the flightline isn't geese, but pigeons.

"I don't think it would hurt our bigger airplanes," Colonel Griesbaum said. "If you hit enough of them, it becomes a problem. No, the danger with them is that they're prey for other, bigger birds, and we do have raptors out here."

Birds of prey such as falcons hunt pigeons and other small animals, which is why Colonel Griesbaum said it's important to be aware of what animals are making the flightline their home and avoid creating habitats that could attract larger animals.

"If we create a garbage dump on this base, or if we put in another water source, that creates a habitat that attracts wildlife," he said. "It may bring in different birds and animals to the field. Every time we build or do something new here that could potentially affect the habitat, we need to be aware of it. Not all of it we'll be able to stop, but if we know we might potentially have something that changes the habitat, we can work to mitigate that."

Mr. Begier said awareness and management of the airfield environment is key and can prevent bird strikes.

"We have a lot of populations in North America of wildlife that have been increasing for a number of decades," he said. "Especially large birds have seen very dramatic population increases, and these large, flocking species of birds can cause damage to aircraft. What we saw in New York City was an accident waiting to happen. We've been anticipating something like this for awhile."

Colonel Griesbaum said the 386th AEW Safety Office will remain vigilant to make sure it won't happen here.

"I don't think we have the type of bird population here that would cause us to lose two engines," he said. "But this country is part of a migratory pattern for birds going down, back and forth, so it's important for us to be aware of what's going on in case we see a problem."

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