BCP conducts comprehensive risk assessments in order for airfield managers to both identify and prioritize the hazards posed by the different species present in their environment. BCP has developed a risk assessment model that is now in use by airports and airbases around the world. Our model has been widely accepted as a preeminent means to develop accurate and meaningful risk assessments for birdstrike and other wildlife issues at airfields in any environment for more than 10 years now.
Our model formula allows airfield operators to carry out a professional risk assessment of wildlife on their airfield and develop a wildlife control protocol for dealing with these risks in the most efficient and productive manner. It can be used to evaluate all species at an airfield, so that a uniform, relative risk evaluation for the species can be determined, and effective control measures developed to address those risks. A risk assessment should be completed in order to provide a list of the species at an airfield that pose the greatest risk to aviation and the order in which they should be addressed in a wildlife control program. Not all species are equally hazardous to flight operations and the risk analysis should be completed with consideration of ten factors. One must take into account a significant number of criteria when determining the order that the species fall into and exactly how they might affect the overall operation of aircraft at any particular airfield. To this end, our risk assessment formula considers the following factors in establishing the priority of wildlife control at airfields:
The ten primary risk factors are:
1) The overall population of the wildlife species (in total number of individuals)
2) The size (mass and surface area) of an individual animal within the species
3) The average number of animals encountered (i.e. average group size)
4) The amount of time spent in the airfield environment (migration, hibernation, etc.)
5) The time of day when the species is most active
6) The location of the species with respect to flight operations (AGL, distance from runways, etc.)
7) The time spent by the species in the air or actively moving
8) The number of reported strikes involving the species
9) The ability of the species to actively avoid aircraft collisions
10) The ability to actually influence the species through wildlife control
Our risk assessments can be utilized to provide a list of wildlife species at an airfield that pose the greatest risk to aviation and the order in which they should be addressed in a wildlife control program. This list can then be used to prioritize wildlife control activities and serve as an index to help determine the overall effort and money that should be spent on assuaging the strike hazard of any particular species. While only a guideline, our risk assessment formula can serve as an effective method of setting wildlife control priorities at an airfield.
