Prestwick Airport Employs Hawk To Rid Airport Of Seagulls

The problem of bird strikes on aircraft is a serious one, and Prestwick Airport have had to take delivery of a bird of prey to try to deal with the problem.

The main problem with bird strikes has been down to seagulls and previous attempts to rid The Scottish Water Building near the airport of them have been unsuccesful. However now that Jasper the four-year-old hawk has arrived the seagulls may have to think twice about occupying the airport area.

Previous attempts to stop the seagulls at the airport have not worked including the removal of their nests, the erecting of netting costing £40,000 (of which ten became trapped in and one died) as well as imitation hawks being placed around the airport.

Bird strikes are very dangerous for aircraft with a Ryanair flight carrying 143 people having to make an emergency landing in 2006 after striking a bird shortly after take-off. One of the seagulls had been sucked into the aircrafts engine. In 1980 an RAF Nimrod aircraft crashed just after take-off at RAF Kinloss in Moray after striking a bird resulting in the death of the two crew.

According to sources Jasper will not harm the seagulls but simply scare them off, forcing them to make their home elsewhere. This will not only be safer for air passsenger but for the birds as well.

Published by: Jon Vickery