Love is on the ground at Denver International Airport – among rabbits, at least, and that’s a dangerous situation for aircraft.
The wascally wabbits, as Elmer Fudd might say, attract raptors that can cause millions of dollars of damage when the birds of prey collide with aircraft.
Typically the most expensive damage occurs when the animals are sucked into jet engines. Damage to airplane windshields and wings is also a problem.
“As fast as those airplanes are going, even if you have a medium-sized bird, that’s a pretty big force that can cause damage,” said Mike Yeary, U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services director for Colorado.
Last year, animal strikes at DIA caused more than $4 million in damage to commercial aircraft.
Rabbits also attract coyotes, at least five of which were struck by planes at DIA last year.
“Those jet engines are so powerful, there’s always a possibility of them being sucked in as well,” Yeary said.
Animals on the airfield, including runways, are the most pressing safety concern. The airport contracts with Wildlife Services to secure that area and make it less hospitable to wildlife. One strategy is to shoot off a type of fireworks that frightens birds away. Wildlife Services also kill rabbits in locations where they are deemed an immediate safety hazard.
Still, the rabbits proliferate.
“Their numbers around here have really gone up,” said Wildlife Services wildlife biologist Kendra Cross. Animals that are prey “typically go in a seven-year cycle where they will proliferate.”
Bunnies at DIA can cause property damage when they nibble on engine wires of parked cars.
DIA also has used a private contractor to relocate the rabbits.
Mayor John Hickenlooper “obviously wanting the airport to deal with this issue, also asked that they do it in a humane manner without killing the rabbits,” said spokeswoman Lindy Eichenbaum Lent.
Bird strikes with aircraft are estimated to cost civil aviation more than $300 million a year nationally.
“If a large aircraft were to hit a large hawk or an owl, especially during a takeoff or landing, that could possibly cause – at minimum, damage – and in the worst possible scenario, a crash,” Yeary said. “When you get flocks of them they could possibly clog up the jet engines.”
The national Bird Strike Committee USA is devoted to dealing with the problem and meets annually with Bird Strike Committee Canada. According to the U.S. committee’s website, more than 6,300 bird strikes were reported for U.S. civil aircraft in 2004.
“It’s something we obviously are always concerned with, and whatever airports can do to minimize the potential of bird strikes is certainly something from our perspective we’re in favor of,” said Air Line Pilots Association spokesman Steve Derebey.
“Most of these engines are built so that they can withstand small bird strikes. … Generally the bird doesn’t come out on the winning end,” Derebey said. But, “there have been instances where larger birds knock out windshields and do all kinds of significant damage. ”
Staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi can be reached at 303-820-1488 or at kyamanouchi@denverpost.com.
