Hacker News Reader

Comment by tedd4u | Hacker News Reader

Birdstrike #2 engine possibly captured on video:

https://x.com/Global_Mil_Info/status/1873181671375421703

Bird concentration chart for the airport, as published by the Korea Office of Civil Aviation. Really not sure what they would expect a pilot do with this information. Also not really sure how they convince the birds to stay in the marked areas.

http://aim.koca.go.kr/eaipPub/Package/2022-06-30/pdf/AD/RKJB...

I like Delhi's solution. They shoot cannons (unclear what's in them) all day to keep the birds away from the runway. This is probably super common, I just haven't seen it done elsewhere.

They shoot blank rounds. The noise is what chases birds away, and you don't want any stray projectiles flying about in an airport.

Uh, no. That would be WAY too expensive and difficult to automate. They run off of propane. Search your favorite engine for “bird scare cannon”. Or buy this one off amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/SlavicBeauty-Wildlife-Propane-Scarecr...

Not sure what they use in Delhi, but here in Korea we actually have rangers who shoot blank rounds at birds to chase them away at airports.

See first photo in https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20230307131700056 (article in Korean)

The machine in the second photo looks like a cannon but actually sprays insecticide. The goal is to remove insects that the birds feed on, giving them less reason to approach the area in the first place.

Due to the proximity of most Korean airports to residential areas and important military targets, an automated cannon that makes explosive sounds at random would be a big no-no. People would think the airport was being bombarded, or more likely, the President had declared martial law again :(

I live less than a km from a small airport in South Korea, and hear that "cannon" going off all the time. Now I'm curious, is it propane or a person? I'm going to be on the lookout now.

It’s pretty common, cannons or guns shooting blanks.

My son actually has a temporary gig for the next 3 months at a major U.S. airport where he’s tasked with flying a drone to scare birds away as needed.

I have to give him props, that is a pretty cool gig!

He probably already has props, but I'm sure he can use some extras

I remember airports having birds of prey that they would keep around and deploy for this purpose. Drones are probably much cheaper.

That only addresses birds on or very near the airport property, and at very low altitudes. It’s not particularly effective, because the birds just move somewhere close by and settle down. It can also be counterproductive, because scaring birds generally causes them to fly. In the air. Where the airplanes are.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com