The incidence of scavenging birds and domestic animals wondering off onto the Kotoka International Airport tarmac increased by 75 percent last year.
Airport authorities attribute this to encroachment on airport lands by private individuals.
Mr. Charles Asare, Managing Director of the Ghana Airports Company Limited (GACL) said: “The real problem is the others who have encroached on the land due to past acquisitions made without regard for air safety. Now what we have to do is to make sure that the land use of encroachers is consistent with the airport’s safety operations.
“When humans move close to the airport it creates safety hazards. When they move in they generate trash and this attracts scavenging birds; these are all safety hazards for jet planes. The incidence of such things jumped from 2013 to 2014 by as much as 75 percent.”
Birds and other domestic animals pose a serious threat to flight safety. Birds in particular can cause considerable damage to planes in flight.
“We are coming to a compromise with the existing ones so that we can work with them. Some of them have papers, so you have to recognise their rights but appeal to them on the safety aspect,” Mr. Asare said.
http://aviationghana.com/index.php/airport-news/item/425-birds-threaten-kotoka-airport-operations
