Abstract
Globally, collisions between wildlife and aircraft are a serious threat to aviation safety. While reported collisions have increased in recent years, the impact of these collisions on air safety is rarely quantified. Here, we report all bat collisions (bat strikes) with civil aircraft known to have occurred in the Republic of Ireland over the 10-year interval, 2006–2015. Morphological and/or DNA identification techniques were used to identify chiropteran specimens to species level. In total, carcasses or remains from five bat strikes—three Leisler’s Nyctalus leisleri, one Soprano Pipistrelle Pipistrellus pygmaeus, and one Natterer’s Myotis nattereri—were recovered. The collisions are discussed in the context of (a) the rate of chiropteran strikes in relation to the number of civil aircraft movements and (b) possible damage caused to aircraft. Overall, however, bat strikes with aircraft appear to have a negligible effect on civil aircraft safety.
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Acknowledgements
We gratefully acknowledge the contribution of the airfield staff and airport authorities at Dublin, Cork, and Shannon for compiling the database upon which this paper is based. We thank Caroline Shiel and Emma Boston for confirming identification of the Cork Leislers’ bat and Soprano Pipistrelle specimens, respectively. We also thank Sara Bone of the Birdstrike Avoidance team at the Central Science Laboratory, UK, for the DNA analysis of one specimen, and Ms. R E Hutchinson for assistance with the preparation of the manuscript.
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Kelly, T.C., Sleeman, D.P., Coughlan, N.E. et al. Bat collisions with civil aircraft in the Republic of Ireland over a decade suggest negligible impact on aviation safety. Eur J Wildl Res 63, 23 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-017-1081-x
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-017-1081-x