CFB Trenton on alert for bird risk, expert says after Snowbird crash report

This shot shows a bird coming in close contact with the Snowbirds 11 aircraft, in what is likely the final moments before their collision caused the May 17 crash. Photo from the Canadian Armed Forces

By Jacob Willis

BELLEVILLE – It took a perfect storm of circumstance to take the life of Capt. Jenn Casey in the crash of a Snowbirds plane last May.

But that’s not to say the events leading up to the fatal accident in Kamloops, B.C., won’t be taken into account in future efforts to ensure wholesale safety in aviation, according to an expert at Canadian Forces Base Trenton.

The official Canadian Forces accident report, released Monday, revealed that a bird strike at just the wrong angle and altitude caused engine-compressor failure in the Snowbird 11 aircraft with Casey as a passenger. The public affairs officer was a former resident of the Belleville area.

The accident serves as a harrowing reminder of the importance of mitigating the effect that wildlife can have on aircraft. 

Major Robert Hertzell, air traffic control commander of Canadian Forces Base Trenton, says he’d be “surprised” if the Snowbirds even had a wildlife-control system at all. “If they do, it’s definitely not as robust as what we have in Trenton,” he told QNet News Wednesday.

Backed by thorough research, CFB Trenton successfully walks the tightrope of ensuring the safety of personnel and aircraft without intruding upon the local ecosystem, Hertzell said.

He outlined two different types of wildlife control used by the air base, preventative measures designed to reduce the risk of a Trenton aircraft meeting the same tragic fate as the Snowbird 11.

“Active control is more like what you’d expect,” Hertzell said. “We’re using falconry, pyrotechnics and recorded distress calls from bigger animals to scare off birds.”

This form of mitigation occurs when there are flocks of birds actively being reported in the airspace during takeoff or landing. There is at least one official wildlife control officer on duty at all times, keeping an eye out for birds that may congregate on the fields around the runway.

The second – and more important – form of avian expulsion is passive control, a careful modification of the environment surrounding the airfield in order to discourage birds from being there in the first place.

“Passive control is the big one we use at Trenton,” Hertzell said. “It’s a proactive approach. We’re using techniques for habitat management, like making sure that the grass is cut short to keep small animals from attracting predatory birds. We’ll also change some of the structures here on the base, putting spikes on ledges and such so that birds don’t really want to be here.”

CFB Trenton’s wildlife mitigation techniques echo what is conventional protocol for just about any air space, whether it be commercial airlines or military bases.