SEN. Francis Tolentino on Monday raised the need to constantly upgrade the country’s aviation safety measures, including the prevention of bird strikes, since the Philippines’ primary international airport is located near a bird sanctuary.
He issued the statement a day after a Jeju Air Boeing 737-800 crashed at the Muan International Airport in South Korea, killing 177 passengers and crew on Sunday. A bird strike has been raised as one of the possible factors for the tragedy.
The accident took place as Jeju Air Flight 2216 tried to land minutes after the control tower issued a bird strike warning, and the pilot soon after radioed “mayday.”
“Changes in the pattern and volume of migratory birds should be constantly tracked, especially since the Ninoy Aquino International Airport is located a few kilometers from Freedom Island, a protected bird sanctuary in Manila Bay,” Tolentino said in his radio program.
Migratory birds come from colder regions like Russia, China, and other Asian countries, the senator said.
Eric Apolonio, Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP), spokesman supports Tolentino’s suggestion. “This is being addressed by CAAP,” he told him during the program.
He said that the increasing population of migratory birds around airports and measures to mitigate bird strikes were among the topics discussed by CAAP in a recent seminar.
Apolonio said that climate change is one of the factors considered by the agency in implementing measures to deter bird strikes on aircraft that are either taking off or landing at the country’s airports.
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