A Fear of Flight

This? week? I? write? about risk,? our? attitude? and? aversion toward? it? and how? in trying? to? reduce? it? we? often? inadvertently increase our? exposure? to danger. As an? example? I? use? the? airline? industry? and its? attitude? to? risk,? not? because? they are? any? better? or worse? than? anyone else, but? I? have encountered? their? risk? averse? strategies? and? their? data? is? freely? available on line.? I? should? point? out? that? I am old? enough to remember when catastrophe? in the? airline industry, whilst? not? common,? was? not? a rare? occurrence,? and so? I? do have an? understanding? of? the? industry’s? zero? tolerance attitude.? The? particular? aspect I? want? to? look at is? that? of? birds bringing? down planes. Anyone who has dealt? with? projects? close? to airports? knows? there are? strict protocols? to? follow.? These are? set out? in? the? CAAs? document? CAP 772,? Wildlife management? at? aerodromes.? ??Indeed there is a? legal? requirement for? any would be developer? within? 13km? to consult? ?the? CAA.? With? ?47 operational? commercial airports? across? the? UK? that’s? quite a? sizeable? chunk? of the? UK? falling under their? jurisdiction. The? principle? adopted? by? airline? authorities? is that? birds? and planes don’t? mix,? birds? tend? to? fly? into? planes , or? vice? versa, causing? damage.? None? of? this is? untrue,? birds? do indeed? regularly? hit? planes,? and planes are? damaged? as? a? consequence,? of course? the? bird(s)? are ?wiped? out.? Now where the? logic ?around? risk? becomes? illogical? is the CAA’s? response to? the ?damage? that? the poor? birds? do.? If? their? unfortunate? impact? resulted? in? catastrophic? failure? of the? flight? then? all? concerns? around risk? would be? totally? justified.? However,? that’s? not the? case,? yes? damage? will? occur? to the? fuselage? and in? extreme cases perhaps? even? to? an? engine,? but? that? does? not? happen,? in? nearly? all cases? the? flight? continues? to? its? destination,? where of? course the? necessary? repairs? are? carried? out.? To? put? this? in context,? in the? entire history? of? commercial? flight? allegedly less? than? 300? people? have? actually? died because? their? plane? hit? a? bird.? Compare? this? to the? number? of? commercial? passengers per? year, which? is? currently? around? ?35million . ?So as? mass? flight? has? been? with? us? for? circa? 50? years? that? means? 1.75billion? passenger? flights? of? which? less? than? 300? would? have? died? due? to a?? bird? strike.? Of? course? the? loss? to? the airlines?? through? bird? strikes? is? a temporary? loss of a? plane,? whilst? it is fixed,? so? loss of? revenue,? reputation,? profit? and? an increase? in fares.?? As a? reaction to this? risk? the? CAA? tries,? if? it? can, ?to eliminate all? those? features? that? birds? find? attractive.? That’s any tree? or? shrub that? bears a? berry? or? fruit,? any? stand? or? trees? that flocks? of? birds might roost in,? any? water? bodies (quite? literally?? any, even? if? its? only? temporarily? inundated),? long grass, very? short? grass? and certainly? no? green? roofs,? even? ungreened? roofs? are? seen as a? problem. In essence? the? only? acceptable? ground? cover ?is? ankle? high? sward commonly? ?seen? either side of a? runway.? You might think,? well? if it saves? lives,? or? cost, why is? that? a ??problem.? Well? of? course a? treeless,? waterless world? also? has? consequences,? and? kills? people,? not? around the? airport of? course,? but? in? those? low? lying parts? of the? planet? now threated? with? inundation.? The? airline? industry is? supposedly responsible for? 3%? of our green? house? gas? emissions, which sounds a small? number,? but? when? 250000? people per annum? supposedly die? from? climate change? even 3%? of that big? number is? a? lot more? than? 300.?

As? I ?say,? the? CAA? are? not? alone in their counter? intuitiveness, the? moratorium? on wood in buildings ?meaning? we? have to use? concrete and steel? is? just? one? example? in a? long list.