In an instant, the windshield to Rob Weber's small airplane shattered while a thousand feet in the air. “I was...
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Bird Strike Association of Canada
We believe that the key to reduce damaging wildlife strikes to aircraft in Canada is by building a community of professionals to exchange ideas, experiences and co-operative efforts to better manage wildlife at all Canadian airports. It is through the ecological management of wildlife and the application of best practices that we will be successful in reducing strikes to aircraft. In pursuing these beliefs, we influence all aspects of airport wildlife management in Canada.
The Bird Strike Association of Canada (BSAC) is a leader in airport wildlife strike prevention. Through dialogue with the industry, the BSAC seeks and advances innovative ideas in aviation safety. Our mandate includes setting standards and addressing industry issues by formulating effective strategies and implementing change through regulatory means. Birdstrike Canada is “The Canadian Voice of Wildlife Strike Prevention.”
The Bird Strike Association of Canada is recognized by Transport Canada as Canada’s National Bird Strike Committee organized under the guidelines set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).
Wildlife Strike Photo Data Base
We now have a data base of over 1000 photos of wildlife struck by aircraft at Canadian airports. Photo evidence of the species struck and the location/evidence on the aircraft is some of the most important data recovered from a strike event. Yet Transport Canada’s strike form does not allow the upload of photos; therefore, those data are generally lost. The BSAC Wildlife Strike Photo Data Base is an initiative to capture and save the strike photos which can then be linked to the Transport Canada Data Base. The additional advantage of sending in photos is that BSAC experts will check your identification of the species struck and offer their best attempts at an ID if different from yours. We urge every airport to send us photos of your strikes. The protocol for photographing, labeling and sending your photographs can be found here. And don’t forget, if you do not have enough remains to identify (e.g., just a blood smear or what we call “snarge”), you can send them to BSAC’s partner DNA lab at the University of Guelph to get them identified (usually) to species. Check here for more information.