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Towards building a speciesspecific risk model for mammal-aircraft strikes
Journal of Airport Management,
15
(3),
288-303
(2021)
Abstract
Wildlife strikes are a significant issue in the aviation industry, especially strikes with medium- to large-sized mammals, which pose a high risk of damage to aircraft and human safety. Despite the identified threat that mammals can pose to aircraft, few works have been published on ways to rank and predict the risk of mammalian species to aircraft. This study used remote camera trap data collected from an array of wildlife camera traps at the Prince George International Airport (YXS), Prince George, British Columbia, Canada, to calculate strike risk for various species of mammals involved in runway incidents between January 2012 and December 2018. Carnivores such as red foxes and coyotes were found to be the highest risk mammal species at YXS, but foxes were found airside infrequently compared to coyotes. Binary logistic regression modelling was used in an attempt to predict variables leading to runway incidents with coyotes at YXS. The highest supported logistic regression model predicting coyote incidents included the variables ‘weekday’, ‘month’ and ‘season’. Although data from camera traps did not help to predict incidents, trend data collected from camera traps mirrored coyote incident data, suggesting that camera traps are useful for capturing times of the day and seasons of the year in which coyotes are active at the airport. Suggestions are provided as to how cameras might be used to track the movement of animals more accurately and what other data could be useful in helping to build risk assessments and models to predict aircraft incidents with mammals of interest.
Keywords: risk assessment; wildlife strike; animal; camera trap; aircraft
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Brendan M. Carswell received a BSc Honours in Natural Resources Management: Wildlife and Fisheries, from the University of Northern British Columbia, in 2020. Brendan spent much of his undergraduate degree working with Dr Roy Rea, among other researchers, studying ungulate ecology in northern and central British Columbia, Canada. Brendan has worked with Dr Rea as a Research Assistant at the Prince George International Airport since 2017.
Roy V. Rea obtained a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from California State University, Stanislaus, in 1992 and a Master of Science in Biology from the University of Northern British Columbia in 1999. In 2014, Roy completed a Doctor Philosophiae in Ecology from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences in Ås, Norway. Roy is a Registered Professional Biologist and has worked as a Senior Laboratory Instructor in the Ecosystem Science and Management Program at the University of Northern British Columbia since 2000 where he teaches Introductory Biology, Field Applications in Resource Management, Marine Ecology courses and labs in Plant Systematics. Roy has worked with the Prince George Airport Authority on several projects aimed at reducing potential conflicts between aircraft and animals since 2007 and also works jointly with the provincial Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure on projects aimed at mitigating wildlife–vehicle collisions on highways in northern British Columbia.
Gary F. Searing is a wildlife biologist with more than 45 years in the field of wildlife management. As a research biologist, he has worked with virtually every group of birds and mammals in many different habitats and geographic locations. As an airport-wildlife hazard biologist, Gary is known for developing and implementing the comprehensive wildlife management programme for the Vancouver International Airport in British Columbia, Canada. He is Executive Director of Bird Strike Committee Canada. Having spent many years devising successful wildlife management strategies for airports in Canada and around the world, Gary brings a broad and innovative perspective to airport wildlife management approaches and training.
Gayle Hesse has coordinated the Wildlife Collision Prevention Program of the British Columbia Conservation Foundation since 2002. She works on regional and provincial wildlife collision reduction initiatives, driver awareness and education programmes, and wildlife collision research projects. Gayle is a registered professional biologist whose interests include many aspects of human wildlife conflict issues, particularly those involving urban deer and moose. When not reading, writing or thinking about roadkill, Gayle enjoys gardening and hiking with her husband, Jim.
