Given how bird strikes can cause delay and damage to aircraft, an airport in the United Kingdom has taken a cue from Star Wars and turned to using “lightsabers” as a solution.
Scotland’s Dundee Airport has put in place the handheld gadget, which harnesses laser technology that has a range of over one mile.
The Aerolaser system is viewed as an alternative to pyrotechnic bangers and other conventional bird-scaring techniques, which can effectively drive birds away but can cause noise issues for the surrounding community.
Lasers are considered “very effective” in dispersing birds, which can be a hazard to pilots. According to Dundee Airport fire manager Andrew Lindsay, the feathered animals treat the beam as a “perceived threat” and will then fly away in the opposite direction.
The airport is currently testing out the laser developed by a Dutch company. The beam can extend to about 2 kilometers (1.25 miles). It does not only cover a long range, but is also considered as a safe and humane way of deterring birds.
Lindsay added that while it has “the look of Star Wars about it,” the laser serves the serious purpose of keeping the airfield free from birds and thus preventing bird strikes, a majority of which occur around 3,000 feet above ground or sometimes even at higher altitudes.
Southampton Airport, visited by Lindsay before Dundee decided to adopt the Aerolaser, is the first airport to use the system worth £8,000 (about $12,300).
As lasers can also pose a risk to aircraft, the system is still undergoing risk assessments and airport staff are being fully trained in using it.
Bird strikes are believed to be occasionally dangerous, particularly when involving engines. Author and pilot Patrick Smith wrote that while birds do not clog engines, they can bend or fracture the internal blades and this can result in power loss. Both huge and small birds in flock can potentially cause trouble.
However, Smith clarified that aircraft parts are built to tolerate the relevant impacts, where testing is done to gauge resistance of windshields and other components.
Bird strike incidents in the past include US Airways Flight 1549 gliding into the Hudson River post-collision with a flock of Canadian geese in 2009. A Lufthansa Airbus A321 was also flying over Lebanon and had to make an emergency landing in Beirut when it lost power in one of its engines.
