Russia's main airport faces high danger from dump birds
Saturday, June 19, 2010
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It has been unveiled that numerous planes operating near a major Russian airport, the Moscow Sheremetyevo International Airport, have for about four years been at the risk of birdstrikes because of a high number of birds nesting nearby on a large garbage landfill site, illegal under Russian law. Prominent Russian social activist Alexey Navalny, whose anti-corruption campaigns are nowadays largely discussed in Russian Internet and general press, on Friday published a LiveJournal post with the details on the case.
Navalny, among other things, references the recent writings in the LiveJournal blog of the airport's Director General Mikhail Vasilenko, who has publicly expressed concerns about the birds near the airport. He says that, for as long as the landfill has been in existence, there have been 141 instances of planes hitting birds while flying near the airport and 21 instances at the airfield during takeoff and landing operations. Birdstrikes are a common problem in aviation that can lead to equipment damage and human casualties.
It has been reported that, for a long time, airport administration and groups of local citizens concerned with the landfill have been appealing to different Moscow Oblast and Russian Federation authorities to address the problem, but almost nothing has been done to close the landfill due to obstacles in local governing and commerical systems. It has been emphasized that the existence of the landfill in question is not officially permitted, and as such, the landfill is operating illegally.
As reported by Navalny, the only thing state authorities could recently accomplish, was a temporary suspension of trash transportation during May 7–12, when many world leaders came to Moscow through Sheremetyevo—historically the state's main civil airport—to celebrate Russia's 65th Victory Day. That was made possible only with the interference of Federal Protective Service, the state service which protects top Russian officials.
Sources
- "Стаи чаек угрожают самолетам" — NTV (Russia), 2010-06-19 (Russian)
- Alexey Navalny. "Свалка, птицы, Шереметьево" — 2010-06-18 (Russian)
- Mikhail Vasilenko, Director General of Sheremetyevo International Airport. "Мусорная свалка, безопасность пассажиров и бездействие чиновников" — 2010-06-16 (Russian)
- "Чайки подвергают опасности пассажиров аэропорта Шереметьево" — Vesti (TV channel), 2010-06-08 (Russian)
- Carl Schreck. "Russia's Erin Brockovich: Taking On Corporate Greed" — Time Magazine, 2010-03-09
