Westchester County Airport Looks For Nonlethal Solutions To Bird Strikes

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- Westchester County Airport officials are looking for different ways to keep planes and birds away from each other.

As WCBS 880's Sean Adams reported, wildlife management at the airport is a constant effort -- the grass is kept trimmed, there are no nesting areas, food sources are removed.

But sometimes geese have to be euthanized.

However, after a meeting with animal rights activists last week, airport officials agreed to explore new nonlethal means for dealing with birds, such as using radio-controlled drones or fake predator birds to drive birds away from airspace.

But officials stress that passenger safety is their top priority.

There have been seven bird strikes near Westchester County Airport this year -- and 338 since 2000, The Journal News reported.

For example, in March a flight to Florida made an emergency landing. Two years ago, two geese smashed into the windshield of a JetBlue plane.

And most people are familiar with the 2009 "Miracle on the Hudson," when geese took out the engines of a US Airways flight departing from LaGuardia Airport. Pilot Chesley Sullenberger safely landed the plane in the icy Hudson River.

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• Sean Adams