The European Space Agency\'s FlySafe project, looking at the bird strike problem from another perspective

The bird strike problem is a negative side effect of the aerial mobility of both aircraft and birds. A successful prevention strategy should therefore be based on knowledge of the mobility of both parties involved. While we know all the details of aircraft mobility, surprisingly little is known about the mobility of birds.

Most bird strike prevention on-airfields assumes that birds on the airfield will at some time fly and thus are considered a threat for starting or landing aircraft. Nearly all prevention efforts are therefore aimed at reducing the number of birds on airfields. The fact that, despite increasing efforts, the bird strike ratio (bird strikes per 10.000 air traffic movements) in many countries hardly decreases anymore is an indication that new approaches are needed.

The FlySafe project of the European Space Agency is such a new approach, aimed at increasing the knowledge of bird mobility and making this knowledge available for operational use by military and civil aviation.