A Couple of News Articles Get Me Wondering
Record number birds counted on Pocosin Lake and a jet crash in Mississippi on the surface would seem like two unrelated stories but there really not. So if you’ll indulge me I’ll explain.
The military is still pushing on for a Outlying Landing Field (OLF) in Washington County North Carolina despite the obvious dangers this site presents. Washington County is the wintering grounds of numerous waterfowl including Tundra Swan which are extremely large birds not to mention the flocks of snow geese that winter here. The Charlotte Observer had a story this week despite the record number of birds on Pocosin Lake, 75,000 to 80,000 snow geese and 26,000 Tundra Swan one day in December 2006, the Navy will not change it’s plans.
The Navy argues that the thousands of birds won’t endanger the pilots or their aircraft and the new numbers don’t change that stance, Navy spokesman Ted Brown said.
Large concentration of birds and low flying military jets seems to me to be a recipe for disaster to say the least. Just this week a military jet over Mississippi hit a flock of Canadian Geese and crashed thankfully the flight crew ejected safely.
A military aircraft participating in a training exercise crashed Thursday afternoon in Northern Mississippi.
Officials with Columbus Air Force Base said the accident happened at 1:30pm Thursday afternoon approximately 10 miles west of Batesville on Curtis Road, near Highway 6.
The crash occurred in an extremely remote area of Panola County, a place where military jets frequently fly training missions. But on this training mission, the student got a much different lesson.
Military and medical personnel rushed to the crash scene of a T-38 jet in a remote area of Panola County….
…Investigators say the pilot and trainee ejected moments before the T-38 went down. “I asked one of the pilots what happened. He said a flock of geese flew up and they went down,” said land owner Kevin Locke.
KLTV7
This will be what happens here in Washington County if the Navy is allowed to proceed with this asinine plan.
Other Posts About the OLF I’ve written
Wolf Throws a Wrench into Navy Plans
Navy and Marines Compromise with Environmental Groups
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[...] As reported earlier large flocks of birds and Navy jets don’t mix, if you don’t care about the impact this will have on the environment what about the pilots who will be risking their lives every time a flock of tundra swan fly up or a flock of snow geese. The plan makes no sense and the potential for loss of life should open the eyes of the Navy even if the US Fish & Wildlife have to stand by dumbstruck. [...]
Pingback by Moose Droppings » US Fish & Wildlife Employee’s Who have the Most Knowledge have been Gagged — January 31, 2007 @ 11:14 pm
[...] and see how utterly ridiculous this statement is. Here is a story I covered back in January about a military jet crash in Mississippi caused by a flock of geese. Go to the NO OLF website and check out the video they shot in the [...]
Pingback by Moose Droppings » US Navy Willing to Gamble On Pilots Lives for Training Purposes? — March 1, 2007 @ 4:50 pm