Birdstrike is a big deal. It has to be taken seriously. Developments - especially involving water - that have the potential to raise the number of birds directly under the take-off and landing approaches to a busy international airport should not be permitted. At Zurich last week, a plane bound for the US suffered a birdstrike. It had to make an emergency landing after circling for more than an hour to burn off fuel. One hundred and eighty concerned people were on board. The engine was repairable. The red kite - similar in size to a buzzard - was not. The incident was costly in both economic and environmental terms.
