Piglet flies under radar, landing delayed
Most people are familiar with the dangers birds pose to aircraft but in rural airports like Taupō, ground-based wildlife can also be problematic.
A pig incident was averted on the evening of Anzac Day through the intervention of one of the airport’s two wildlife control contractors who found one in the grass at the northern end of the airport.
The piglet was about 200 metres off the runway, said Taupō Airport safety manager Steve Petersen, but the contractor contacted the pilot of an incoming Air New Zealand flight from Auckland and the pilot elected to perform a go-round before landing.
While the aircraft was on the ground the contractor did a thermal scan of the runway and surrounding area and gave the pilot the ‘all clear’ for departure.
“In the interests of safety, you don’t know what wildlife will do. Once he was well clear the piglet was dispatched (shot) and there were no other sightings of any other wildlife.”
The two control contractors knew the area and in what directions they could utilise a firearm safely, Steve says.
“It’s quite a critical exercise. Any wildlife control is all about safety in the end, so they did an exceptional job.”
Constant vigilance was key, he says.
“Ever since Adam was a cowboy there has been an issue with the gullies. During an airfield inspection which is carried out in daylight, if there is any evidence of wildlife then the contractors put up cameras to identify what they are and where they are coming from… There was a little bit of pig rooting, so they decided to go out over several nights and just identify what was happening.”
Taupō Airport’s ranking was low in the Civil Aviation Authority levels for the issue, said Petersen.
“And that’s mainly due to the control measures that we have in place.”
Rural airports could have issues with possums and even livestock.
“We occasionally will get pigs out there, so we are vigilant in monitoring that and taking the necessary steps. At the end of the day the culling is all about safety… Really there are very few animal incidents on any airports around New Zealand, the biggest one is bird strikes or near strikes.”