n.05_September_October.2009.Englisch._

• TECHNOlOGYAIRSAFETY

UNDER THE RADAR

FürdieLuftfahrt bedeutetderVogelflugeineständigeGefahr- beidenheutigen,zweistrahligen

Rugzeugenmehrdennjezuvor.MitmodernsterRadartechnikversuchtmandieserBedrohungHerrzu

werden.SeonMCCARTNEYberichtetvonVersuchenmitneuenKontrollsystemen. '61!tt1!'I"

A CLOSER LOOK

V1?ge1-

luftfahrt

aiKraftl'erkr..,f11 F1ugzeug(e)

airfield['erfi:>IdJ Flugplatz

airforceI'crb:n;] luftwaffe

airlinerl'cr,lam>rl (großes)Passagierflugze~

air-trafficcontroller Fluglotse,-Iotsin

altitude[,Co,,WdlkI':"\(k:l~'i"hOO~I~"~l;;:::-_....::==::;;I!u:d] HOhe~;;;::;;:,~;;;;;;

approachanddeparturepath (Ein-undAus·)Flugschneise

[~,pr(l"lf3ndi'pa:rtI"'-IXI->(lJ

avianl'cl\'i~ml

avialion[,ClVi'e,!"'"

Vogelschlag

Echozeichen,-imputs

etwa:le'ter(in)der

technischenPlanungund

Entwicklung

descendldi'scnd] hier:herabsturzen

fatalityIfcl'trel;,li] Todesopfer

flapDne'swinas[,[hpW!\nZ'WIO:l] mitdenFlugeinschlagen

f[areItlc'r) leuchtgeschoss

trock[f!u:kJ Schwarm

ilide[!II11ul1 gleiten

gulJ11I!\11 Mowe

bird5trlkel'h:I:dstr:uk]

blip[bllpl

chieltechnolOl)'offk:er

[,I]i:flek'na:I::ld3i,o:f~""1

specieslivinginareasnearairportshavegrown,biolo~

gistssay.Andthenumberofplanesintheskybasin-

creasedasweil.Today'squietert\'1n-cngineaircraftalso

haveabigherchanceofcollisionchanolderthree-and

four-enginemodds,whichareeasierforbirdstohear

andavoid.

With FAA support,the Seattlc-TacomaAirport

(knownasSea-Tac)instalIedthenation'sfirstbirdradar

ara commercialairporrin2007.OsmeksaidIropened

biseyes.Thcrewerea lotmorebirdsaroundtheairpon

thanhewasawareof.$ca-Taeisl0C3tcdinoneofthcee

majormil:ratorvflywaysinNorthAmeriea.

Theradarisprow-ammcdtoIlleasurebirds'altitlldes

and to identify theirsizc and type, sinee differenr

spcciespresentdifferentrhreatsto::tirplanes.Geeseare

amonsrhemostdangerous- notonlybecausecheyare

large, buralsobecausethey Hy in flocks.Radarcan

identifydifferentspeciesofbirdsbylookingatwhethcr

rheyriseanddescendrapidly,suchas hawks,orfly

MwkIh:>:k) Bussard

mip-'toryflywayI,malgr;ll:>:ri'llalWCl] Zugqelroute

nest[neMI nisten

outthere['aut&:...-J hier:bereitsbestehend

patternI'ea:t'ml Muster

pondlpo:ndl Teich

radiodeledionandranging(radar) Radar:Funkerfassungund

Lren!i...." di,lckI"ßJn'rcmd310J Entfernungiliestimmung

smear[sm!'r] (verschmierter)Fleck

takeofl['tetb:fl Start

wildllfebioloaist[,w,,,"ldlalfbal'l"';><)31~1jWildlierbiola;ge,-biolOllin

wildlifestrike['wal-rdralfslr,llk 1 KollisionmitWildtieren

S

teveOsmeksrudiesaradarscreencarefullyat
Seattle-Taeoma International Airpon,buthe's
notlookingar.b.J.i1lliofairpbnes.!t'sbirdsthat
lightuphisscreen.Osmeki5awildlifebioloe,isr
cesting a newari.an radarsystem that,ould
somedaywarnairrrafficcontrollersofbirdsflying[0-
wardtheapproachaoddwanureparh<;ofairliners.
Sueha systemmighrhavewamedUSAirwaysFlight
1549 todelayirs~untiJa.fk!dofgeesepassed.
LastJanllary.alterhittingthebirdssoonaftertakeoff
from ew York's LaGuardia Airport, thcairliner's
engineshcgalltofail.Thecrewwasablecoland the
planeintheHudsonRiver:lndevacuatedpassen~ers
withoutanyfaralities.
The U,S. Federal Avjatjon Administration (FAA),
whienregulatescivilairtraffie,saysitstestinScartJehas
goneweIl.TheFMisalsotestingthesystematChica-
go'sO'HareandNewYork'sKennedyairports."Wc're
verycxciredaOOmthetechnologiesOUtthereandthe
onestucome,"saysMichaelJ.Q'Donnell.FAAdirecror
ofairponsaferyandsrandards_"'"Ir'sverypromising."
Howcvcr,theFMsaysit'sstillseveralyearsaway
frompurringbird-radarsystemsincontrolrowersat
commen:ialairports.Theorganizarionhasbeeneriti-
cizedthatthisistakingsolong,burir says[hatradar
systemsdidn'tbecomepromisingunril2005,whennew-
erteehnologiesbecameavailablc.
Bitdshavebeena bigproblematairportsforycars-
evenrheWrightbrothcrsrecordeda hjrdstrikeWildljfe
~inaviationhavekilledatleast 219 peoplcand
destroyedmorethan 200 aireraltgloballysince1988.
DamageroaircraftintheU.S.isestjmatedtobearound
$126milliona year,accordingtoanFAAreportlast
summer.Andsummertravelers,takenote:mosrbird
strikeshappenbetweenJuly
aodOccober.
BClween 1990 and2007,
81,057wildlifcstrikeswere Radarisanacronymforli.:.
diodetectjonandranilinR.
reporred tothe FAA, in~ Electromagneticandradio
volving airliners, private wave5aresentoutaveran
planes, and military jets. area. Whenthewaveshil
Therewere four timesas anobjed,thischangesthe
many strikesreported inIsignalthatisreceivedback,
2007 asin1990,aecnrdingtsothattheposition,speed,
totheFAA.Onereasonis andlocationoftheobject
can be determined.The
greaterawareness and in~ signalsappearas ..~"
creasedreponing. Bur the onaradarsereen,
populations of wildJife L-

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