NAS Meridian-CU-Grant 2
Abstract
Naval Air Station (NAS) Meridian is located in east central Mississippi, north of the City of Meridian, and lies within both Kemper and Lauderdale Counties. The installation, which includes three runways and Navy Outlying Landing Field (OLF) Joe Williams to the northwest in Kemper County, provides training to Navy and Marine Corps student pilots. NAS Meridian is home to one of the Chief of Naval Air Training’s Jet Strike Pilot Training Wings, Training Air Wing One, and provides advanced pilot training to student naval aviators in T-45C Goshawk jet aircraft. According to the Navy and Air Force bird strike databases, black vultures and turkey vultures rank number 3 and number 5, respectively, in total cost of damaging bird strikes (Pfeiffer, 2018). Moreover, vulture populations are increasing. Vultures are the most costly Bird/Animal Aircraft Strike Hazard (BASH) at Naval Air Station Meridian. In 2017, a single-engine T-45C ingested a 5-pound black vulture into the intake which shredded the jet engine. The instructor and student ejected, but the $40M aircraft was lost. Other vulture strikes have resulted in injury; one penetrated the canopy at 300 knots impacting the face of a student (1999). Additional strikes have damaged wings and other parts of aircraft. The Compatible Land Use Vulture Study will evaluate the movement and trophic ecology of vultures. This Study will go beyond tracking movements, it will strive to understand why vultures move and evaluate practical means of changing land use to help avoid aircraft-vulture strikes. The study will use Geographic Information Systems, telemetry, vulture tagging, blood analysis, and 3-D mapping and an integrative toolset linking vulture activity with military flight operations. The Study is intended not only for NAS Meridian, Columbus Air Force Base, and Key Field in Mississippi, but also for local and state government, farmers, ranchers, poultry operators, fish producers, urban planners, and waste managers detailing best management and land use strategies to minimize BASH concerns. The Meridian Airport Authority will serve as the study sponsor/grant administrator and the study coordinator while Mississippi State University will be a sub recipient performing the study.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 09, 2020
- Source ID
- HQ00052010030
Entities
People
- Tom Williams
Organizations
- Meridian Regional Airport
- Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation
- Office of the Secretary of Defense