Government to spend €650k on efforts to cut bird and hare strikes at military airbase

Casement Airbase is home to the Irish Air Corps and Garda Air Support Unit, as well as housing the government jet used by the President, Taoiseach and ministers for official business. File picture: Billy Higgins

The Department of Defence is set to spend €650,000 on wildlife control measures to reduce the risk of bird and hare strikes at its military airbase in Baldonnel, which can threaten the safety of incoming and outgoing flights.

Casement Airbase is home to the Irish Air Corps and Garda Air Support Unit, as well as housing the government jet used by the President, Taoiseach and ministers for official business.

A Bird Control Unit (BCU) is stationed at the airbase, tasked with keeping the area free of birds and other wildlife with the aim of avoiding strikes that can cause significant damage to aircraft and result in jet engines losing power.

The BCU has used specially trained raptors to hunt and scare birds at the airfield in the past, including peregrine falcons and harris hawks. These deter the presence of flocks that are likely to pose problems for aircraft.

Department of Defence tender

The department published a tender this week, seeking suitably qualified specialists to operate the BCU and use a range of control and scaring measures to deal with the threat posed by birds and other wildlife.

The contract is worth between €600,000 and €650,000 excluding VAT, according to estimates contained in the tender documents, and will be for a period of one year with a maximum of two 12-month extensions.

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The service provider will be expected to ensure that at least one specialist is on site in Baldonnel during agreed, full-time hours. They must have a proven background in wildlife control, and a comprehensive knowledge of relevant practices.

They will be required to hold a valid firearms licence for a shotgun, a .22 rifle, and any other firearms used at the location. They must also provide a four-wheel-drive vehicle for airfield operations.

The service provider will be expected to have experience in the use of a variety of scaring and control techniques, including bio-acoustic distress calls, pyrotechnics, fire crackers, visual deterrents, trapping, and culling.

The new contractor may also use peregrine falcons and harris hawks, but these birds must be fully trained and capable of working on a daily basis, according to the tender documents.

Any birds that are culled or killed in strikes with aircraft must be collected, photographed, bagged and frozen, the documents state. The carcasses will later be identified and analysed.

The closing date for the receipt of tenders is September 29, and it is expected that the new contractor will be in place by November.

Bird strikes

Last year, 179 passengers were killed when a Jeju Air flight crashed in South Korea following a suspected bird strike, while the landing of a US Airways plane on the Hudson River in 2009 following a collision with a flock of geese was the subject of the Hollywood blockbuster, Sully.

Just last month, an Aer Lingus flight bound for New York was forced to return to Dublin Airport after it hit a flock of pigeons during its ascent. The pilots reported experiencing vibrations in the aircraft’s right engine after the strike.