Copenhagen Airport is stepping up its efforts to make the area a no fly zone for pigeons, after a bird hit a jet and caused an emergency landing last week. Authorities in the Danish capital city have given both the airport and those living around it permission to shoot the birds down outside of the normal hunting season which begins on 1st October.
The population control efforts have been increased after a Boeing 737-800 carrying 189 passengers was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after take-off last Tuesday when a bird flew into its engine. The unfortunate bird is thought to have belonged to a large colony of wood pigeons that roosts on the fields to the south of the facility.
The airport is now taking all measures to keep landing zones strictly for aircraft. According to the Copenhagen Post, people living around the hub have been given permission to shoot at will, and hundreds of the creatures have already met their ends.
Birds can cause extreme danger to air traffic as they can be sucked into jet engines, causing the systems to fail. It is an airport’s responsibility to ensure that the environment around the facility is not a threat to passenger safety.
Airport spokesperson Soren Hedegaard said Copenhagen has stepped up its efforts in order to avoid a repeat of last week’s incident. This is the second consecutive year that the traditional pigeon hunting season has been extended around Copenhagen’s busy transport hub.
Pigeons have as much right as us to be here. I really hate Denmark. Danish people tend to be extremely vulgar.