The high number of collisions between aircraft and animals has brought the issue to higher education institutions across the country.
In one of these projects, the National Civil Aviation Secretariat is partnering with LabTrans/UFSC (Laboratory of Transport and Logistics at the Federal University of Santa Catarina) for wildlife risk management at Brazilian aerodromes, including genetic mapping of animals involved in accidents.
In just the first two months of this year, 451 collisions between aircraft and animals at airports and aerodromes were officially reported —on average, nearly eight per day. Of these, 414 involved birds.
The data is part of the Sispaer Panel, on aeronautical occurrences, developed by Cenipa (Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents), and involves cases that caused some structural damage to the aircraft.
According to the National Civil Aviation Secretariat, the project aims to enhance actions to reduce accidents by identifying the species collided with aircraft, through DNA analysis, and providing a database of wildlife risk mitigation measures.