US$52m plan for airfield bird detection rejectedThe Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAA) has slammed a VNĐ$1.16-trillion (US$52.2 million) proposal to install bird detection systems in airports, saying the payback plan was “unreasonable”. The CAA agreed that a bird detection system was necessary, and yet it questioned the investment amount of VNĐ1.16 trillion, when the AVC failed to list out the expense index of the equipment in question as a reference to calculate the estimated total investment. Vietnam’s airports have encountered an increasing number of bird strikes of late, causing severe structural damage to planes as well as to airlines financially. FODetect is believed to automatically track and monitor any airfield birds and unidentified flying objects that threaten aviation safety in lieu of conventional visual detection, according to the proposal. One of the notable bird strike incidents took place in Noi Bai Airport in September last year, when a bird hit the nose of a Vietjet Air plane and flattened its top.

Source: VietNamNet News August 02, 2016 09:22 UTC