Robotic falcon built to prevent bird strikes: Why Indian airports need it

As per DGCA, bird strike incidents in India have gone up by 49.3% from January to July in 2022, as compared to the same period in 2021

Indian skies have a bird problem, though not the Hitchcockian kind, but just as dangerous for airplanes.

On October 27, a Delhi-bound Akasa flight suffered damage after a bird strike at 1,900 ft, as per the country's civil aviation regulation body, The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). This was hardly an isolated incident, and several publications have cited DGCA data that notes there has been a 49.3 per cent jump in bird strike incidents in the nation, from January to July this year, as compared to 2021.

Two weeks back, another Akasa airplane, this time travelling from Mumbai to Bengaluru, was forced to return after a bird strike. In June 2022, a SpiceJet plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Patna when a bird went into one of its engines. The same day, a Delhi-bound IndiGo craft from Guwahati returned to its point of origin when a bird hit one of its engines at an altitude of around 1,600 ft.

The DGCA in its National Aviation Safety Plan (NASP) for 2018 to 2022 states "wildlife and bird strikes" as one of its key safety priorities, and notes that its objective is to reduce the number of such incidents. The regulatory body added, "Most incidents occur at the critical phase of flight, resulting in structural damage, as well as damage to aircraft systems".

There are safety measures already in place like - a National Bird Control Committee, Airfield Environment Management Committees, legislation preventing dumping garbage and deskinning animals within a 10 km radius of the airport, education and outreach programmes, inspections and extensive audits, comprehensive activities to collect data, and guidance on wildlife hazard management.

Part of the objective to reduce the number of bird strikes includes ensuring the implementation of wildlife strike control measures and the adoption of habitat management strategies.

The solution, however, could lie in a robotic peregrine falcon developed by the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

The RobotFalcon is made from fibreglass and Expanded Polypropylene (EPP). It has a wingspan of 70 cm and mimics the movement of a large falcon, which is effective in scaring birds away and could prove an effective deterrent to bird strikes as per a research article titled Deterrence of birds with an artificial predator, the RobotFalcon, published by The Royal Society. The robotic bird can be controlled from the ground and has propellers on its wings. A camera on its head allows first-person viewing during steering it.

A series of tests carried out in 2019 in the area around the Dutch city of Workum, showed the RobotFalcon able to successfully deter all flocks from fields within five minutes of its flight and 50 per cent of sites were cleared in 70 seconds, CNN reported, speaking to one of the report's authors.

"It cleared fields from corvids, gulls, starlings and lapwings successfully and fast, with deterred flocks staying away for hours. The RobotFalcon was more effective than a drone: Its success was higher, and it deterred flocks faster", the report reads.

There are some limitations, like the need for a trained pilot to steer the falcon, the robotic bird being unable to fly in rain or strong winds, and the device having a limited 15-minute battery life. It has also not been too effective in deterring larger birds like herons and geese.

Airports across the world already use a variety of deterrents like drones and even natural birds of prey like falcons, but the report touts the RobotFalcon as the "practical and ethical solution", adding that it has "advantages of live predators" minus the imitations. In India, too, a variety of deterrents against bird strikes are already in place, including runway inspections, noise makers, deploying bird chasers, reflective tapes, and laser beam guns, Business Standard reported. Proper garbage disposal, trimming grass, spraying pesticide, and ensuring there is no water accumulation in open drains is also a good way to reduce insect count and thus bird presence around airports.

In August 2022, the DGCA issued a new set of orders, saying "When an effort to manipulate wildlife behaviour and discourage them from coming too close to the aerodrome fails, different techniques need to be employed which may involve trapping and releasing them in a new location". The regulatory body also called for sporadic patrols so "so that the wildlife do not ‘learn’ or become accustomed to the timing of patrols."

The idea of the robotic falcon is not novel, and Canada's Edmonton International Airport, in 2017, became the first in the world to integrate unmanned aerial vehicles completely with its regular airport operations by trying the CFS Robird, which also comes from a Dutch company - Clear Flight Solutions.

The susceptibility of bird strikes in the Indian subcontinent, and the country's liberalised drone rules - with drones already being used for railway security - could pave the way for airports to let the Dutch RobotFalcon chart Indian skies.