Applying SMS and sustainability principles to airport wildife hazard management

Resumo

Collisions between aircraft  and  wildlife constitute  a  problem with  serious  economic, environmental and safety
implications. The International Civil Aviation Organization  (ICAO)  has created and introduced a standard for Safety
Management System  (SMS)  in aviation corporations.  Airports implement a Wildlife Hazard Management Plan  (WHMP)  to
mitigate the risk from  aircraft-wildlife  strikes. The  available wildlife strike risk assessment methods are not  accepted
internationally as a common standard and published material is lacking related to integrating WHMP into SMS. The aim of this
study was to provide a structured and holistic approach to airport wildlife   hazard management  and raise awareness of aviation
safety and sustainability.  The objectives of our empirical research  were  1)  to  evaluate the  wildlife strike risk assessment  methods, 2) to provide an SMS approach to WHMP and 3) to design a sustainable development strategy for a WHMP. This research study gathered data with the development of two questionnaires and their distribution to airports and other industry stakeholders. The usefulness of the current wildlife strike risk assessment methodologies is highly debated and questioned. We provide an initial guide to integrate WHMP into SMS and we incorporate the existing best practices for the sustainable development of a WHMP. The promotion of a safety culture and its  components are also discussed.  This study provides a useful guide to airport wildlife hazard managers (AWHM), airport safety managers (ASM) and to the World Birdstrike Association (WBA) with its recent Joint Action Plan to bring about innovative solutions to mitigate wildlife strike risk and improve flight safety.