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Migration Watch Saves Israeli Jets from Bird Strike

(Reuters-New York Times) The Jewish state combines one of the world's biggest air forces, busy commercial aviation traffic, a tiny air space and one of the busiest bird migration routes on the globe. From 1990 to 2000, 130 fighter aircraft from the air forces of 10 countries crashed and 41 pilots were killed due to collisions with birds, according to the International Bird Strike Committee, an expert group on military and civil flight safety. During the entire migration period from August to October a network of ground observers - volunteer ornithologists with binoculars and telescopes - is deployed every 2.5 km. across the entire width of the country. They count the birds flying over, log species, altitude and direction, and alert the authorities of big concentrations. These volunteer "flight-controllers" are supported by counts from glider planes and even military drones. Together with the results of radar and satellite tracking, an exact and up-to-the-minute information network can be established.
2010-12-03 08:09:40
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