Airlines need to design radars that can spot animals on the runways

The time has come for airlines to wake up to the need to design special radars that can detect animals roaming on runways – this need has arisen subsequent to the incident of a buffalo on Surat runway that crashed into a SpiceJet aircraft during takeoff.
Due to that recent incident, the Directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) has listed out 18 airports where "wildlife hazard" is the worst – the list includes all the six metros. Five of the most vulnerable are airports at Udaipur, Cochin, Ahmedabad, Bhubaneswar and Nagpur.
Aircraft has become an indispensable means of communication in today’s world and safety of an aircraft is always uppermost in the minds of all airline operators. While technical faults, if observed in time, can be rectified on the ground before take-off, accidents like collision on ground with animals are unforeseen events. Once that happens, not only the airline suffers bit also the passengers. The reason is obvious – such unpredictable happenings would throw complete one’s plans totally haywire and lead to avoidable problems like delays.
Incidentally, in India, the awareness is missing that airports need to be protected not only from infiltration by terrorists but also from infiltration of cattle that enter through convenient openings in the boundary walls to graze on the abundance of greenery that surround the airport.
Another danger to aircraft in the vicinity of airports is the bird menace – abattoirs near airports or open markets are absolute no-no because they attract birds and birds, if ingested into the engines of jet aircraft, can lead to disaster. Tiny sparrows are known to have destroyed huge aircraft leading to loss of lives and property.
There is an Aircraft Act, 1934 that prohibits any slaughtering or flaying of animals or dumping garbage in a way which could attract animals and birds within a 10-km radius of airports. However, it seems this is very seldom flowed leading to such hazards.

Buffalo hits SpiceJet Boeing-737 aircraft on Surat airport runway – 146 passengers safe

A buffalo hit a SpiceJet Boeing-737 aircraft on Surat airport runway as it was about to take-off for Delhi – fortunately, the 146 passengers on board were safe due to the timely evasive action taken by the pilots.
A high-level meeting convened by aviation minister Ashok Gajapathi Raju Pusapati have discussed the issue of stray animals at airports which is a common occurrence in India. Both the DGCA and Airports Authority of India are investigating this serious incident.
The aviation ministry has taken an immediate decision to send teams to all airports to inspect the perimeter fences and boundaries and ensure replacement of all barbed wires fences by boundary walls to prevent animals from straying into airports for grazing.
The target set is next three months – whether this timeframe is for dispatch of teams or for constructing boundary walls is not very clear.
It has also transpired that there are fish ponds in the vicinity of the runway – these attract birds and lead to another menace for aircraft because bird hits can destroy aircraft.
Animal intrusions at runways have been a common affair. Last month a jackal was trapped from near the Kochi runway. In May, 2012, a pig on Nagpur runway prevented an IndiGo aircraft from landing and the plane had to go around. Incidents of animals on runways in 2008 at Kolkata and Bangalore airport – initially the quartet of jackals looked like dogs from the cockpit of an aircraft readying for takeoff and it resulted in two other planes to hover above the airport for an extra 15 minutes and burn fuel worth about Rs 63,000 each.
On March 27, a Kingfisher Airlines aircraft ran into a dog on the runway of Bangalore airport during take-off – it resulted in the collapse of the nose landing gear. The crew evacuated the 25 passengers on board after the aircraft screeched to a halt.