Eyes in the Sky

THE collision of birds with commercial airliners has been not only costly to airlines but dangerous as well. In an effort to reduce the number of such midair collisions, Japan’s All-Nippon Airways has discovered a novel way to frighten away birds flying perilously close to their planes. How?

By painting menacing-looking eyes on the engine intakes of its jet aircraft, notes International Wildlife magazine. The article explains that the airline painted eyes on 26 of its large-body aircraft and left the remaining aircraft unpainted. At the conclusion of the one-year experiment, an average of only one bird had hit each of the engines painted with the menacing-looking eyes. In contrast, an average of nine birds had struck the unpainted jet engines.

The damage during the one-year test period was estimated to be $720,000, down from $910,000. Because of the success of the experiment, All-Nippon Airways plans to have the eyes painted on all its large-body aircraft.