Airport Wildlife Hazard Assessments

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Large tracts of open, undeveloped land that act as safety margins and mitigate noise for airports can present aviation hazards if they encourage wildlife to enter an airport’s approach/departure airspace or air operations area. In fact, aircraft wildlife collisions and engine ingestion of wildlife result in millions of dollars in damage and pose a serious threat to human safety.

Wildlife Hazard Assessments (WHAs) help identify and minimize risks of aircraft-wildlife collisions and in turn save lives — of both humans and animals — as well as repair costs and damaged aircraft downtime. FAA regulations require airports with operating certificates to conduct a WHA when an aircraft experiences either multiple wildlife strikes or an engine ingestion of wildlife (a “triggering event”). The WHA must include recommended actions to reduce airport wildlife hazards and address wildlife population management. In some cases, the FAA may determine that a Wildlife Hazard Management Plan (WHMP) is needed based on the findings in the WHA. While only airports that have experienced a “triggering event” are required to conduct a WHA, the FAA recommends that all airports (including general aviation airports) take voluntary WHA actions that meet the same requirements.

How SWCA’s Qualified Biologists Can Help
FAA regulations require that a qualified airport biologist with professional training specifically in airport wildlife hazard management conduct the WHA. SWCA has two such FAA-certified airport biologists on staff, along with another six biologists in training to become fully certified for WHA work. SWCA’s breadth of trained and experienced wildlife biologists across our offices allows us to provide WHAs and a wide range of additional natural resource consulting services for airport projects.

To learn more about our aviation-related services, contact us.

Representative Projects:
San Angelo Regional Airport Wildlife Hazard Assessment
Monterey Peninsula Airport Wildlife Hazard Assessment
Albuquerque International Sunport Wildlife Hazard Assessment

Services include:

Regulatory Drivers