Air Force on Wild Goose Chase
By Mike Botta, IEN Staff
January 26, 2009 – The nation’s military efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan may start to wind down in the months ahead, but it looks like the U.S. Air Force is taking a serious gander at battling the geese of Gotham.
In fact, not just the geese but a whole gaggle of gregarious game that seems to be running “a-fowl” of the law in growing numbers.
Battle of the Birds to Begin
Reports surfaced Friday that DeTect, Inc., a Panama City, Florida maker of bird and bat radar systems, got a request from the Air Force to reroute to LaGuardia Airport bird-detecting equipment that had been slated for installation at a base in Nebraska.
LaGuardia sits in Queens just miles to the west of JFK International Airport where DeTect reportedly already is installing some test radar equipment to combat the growing bird problem.
Apparently the Air Force has been using this type of high technology to keep the avian community away from aviators at some of its bases for some time now.
Who knew?
Even NASA Crying Fowl
In addition to the U.S. Air Force, DeTect claims its customer base includes the U.S. Air National Guard, U.S. Army, NASA, the FAA, the U.S. National Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration, the U.S. Geological Survey, various energy companies, industries worldwide, the British government and, of course, the Canadian government, which has remained mum on the recent crash landing of U.S. Air Flight 1549 into the Hudson despite the blame being squarely placed on the beloved geese that carry its name.
For now, The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, a bi-state agency that runs LaGuardia, Kennedy and Newark airports, officially said they are unaware of the latest plans by the Air Force. But, press reports in New York indicated that the agency has formally requested expansion of the JFK test to include its other two airports as well.
It Ain't Cheap
The bird radar system, which can cost up to $2 million to install, has been used by the Air Force for about six years and has also been put in place at some airports in Europe and, of course, Canada.
The New York commercial airports will be the first to test the radar system, but if successful it likely will be expanded to include other airports involved in the daily battle of the birds.
Look Out Below!
In the meantime, check out the DeTect website for a motion-enabled radar map – one similar to the classic weather radar maps seen on The Weather Channel – showing bird activity across the continental U.S. over the latest 24-hour period.
If nothing else, a quick check strongly suggests that if you live in Illinois and plan to go outside today, you’d better wear a hat.