A bird in the hand better than two in the turbine

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jacob Morgan
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  A Red Fox is born to a litter of three in a burrow just outside the fence on the north end of Dover Air Force Base, Del. Eventually this fox will grow up to forage dead animals and bring them back to the den to feed his family.

A short time later, vultures arrive to the den to feast. They steal the food and take the food back to a nest, where they feed their fledglings. A vulture takes back off to repeat the process, but as it swoops down, it is sucked into the engine of a C-17 Globemaster III, causing extensive damage to the plane. If left unchecked, the larger cycle would repeat creating an extreme hazard for Team Dover's Airmen.

"It's about the entire ecosystem," said Melody Henderson, Bird/Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard ecologist and wildlife manager. "In the last seven years, there has been more than $8 million in damage at Dover AFB alone."

BASH is a program made up of several squadrons and base agencies designed to mitigate the risk of bird and wildlife strikes to aircraft.

Understanding animal behavior allows the BASH program to be proactive rather than reactive. In a results-oriented business, this matters. From the length of the grass on the flightline, to the types of ditches built for water flow, everything in the system must be conducive to the control of wildlife populations.

In the last seven months at Dover AFB, there have been no large damaging bird strikes, said Capt. Ryan Daugherty, chief of C-17 flight safety. There is also a new system streamlining the collection and reporting of bird strikes, creating a better tracking system for aircrews around the Air Force.

Recently, more than 10 properties have joined into a land owner's agreement, which allows the BASH program to control wildlife on local property. This agreement was recognized in a Land Owners Appreciation Day June 15, 2011, at Dover AFB, where the land owners were briefed on the correlation between the property BASH can access and the amount of bird strikes.

"One of the most important things the BASH program has done lately is to build a friendship of cooperation with the local community," said Captain Ballew. "LOAD has shown land owners how allowing access on their property is keeping aircrews safer."

The safety of the aircrew and planes requires most of the wildlife population in a 5 mile radius to be controlled. This area is from the surface to 3,000 feet and includes the water and forests that surround Dover AFB.

This area is covered by one woman and her dog, Mrs. Henderson and Kilo, a rescued Border Collie. They start their day 30 minutes before sunrise and end it just before 2 a.m.
"I take pride in the safety of our servicemembers, when they leave or come back to Dover AFB on one of the planes; I want to make sure they travel safely," said Mrs. Henderson.

A self-admitted animal lover, Mrs. Henderson said it can be hard to relocate a lot of the wildlife. However, left to their own devices, animals can bounce back, planes cannot.

Mrs. Henderson works closely with the 436th Civil Engineer Squadron, 436th Airlift Wing Safety Office, 436 AW Public Affairs Office and the local land owners to accomplish the BASH mission.

"This program is one of the best, but it's because of the group effort," said Mrs. Henderson.