Civilian Airports / Wildlife
Wildlife
Wildlife hazard management: sightings, strikes, and trend visibility.
The problem
A sighting log and a hazard management plan are two different obligations
§139.337 asks for both: a way to log what's actually being seen and struck on the airport, and, once the pattern crosses a threshold, a written, annually reviewed plan naming the hazardous species, what's attracting them, and what's being done about it.
Kept as two separate efforts, the log rarely informs the plan and the plan rarely reflects what the log is actually showing, so the species everyone's watching for and the ones the data says matter most can quietly end up being two different lists.
How it works
From a logged sighting to a plan that reflects it
- 01
A sighting or a strike, logged in seconds
A sighting records the species, how many, and where. A strike record covers what got hit, how bad it was, the flight phase, and whether remains turned up.
- 02
One map, every sighting and strike on it
Plot sightings and strikes on the same map, together or filtered to just one, and it's immediately clear where the risk is clustering. No need to remember which corner of the airport keeps coming up.
- 03
The annual Wildlife Hazard Management Plan lives in the same module
Hazardous species rated by hazard level, with their attractants and mitigations, carried year over year and superseded as each new assessment is filed.
- 04
A WHMP finding can become an SMS hazard directly
A finding on habitat, population, reporting, training, or infrastructure promotes straight into the SMS hazard register instead of getting written up a second time as a separate hazard.
Built on the regulation
The citation, implemented
- 14 CFR §139.337
§139.337 requires a wildlife hazard management program and, once triggered, a written, FAA-accepted Wildlife Hazard Management Plan reviewed annually. The activity log and the WHMP live in the same module, so the plan is built from the same sightings and strikes already on file, not reconstructed from memory once the trigger is met.
The benefit
What it automates
Species ID starts right, every time
Every species in the 270-plus picker comes with its own reference photo, so an entry starts from a confirmed match instead of a best guess at what was seen.
Where the risk clusters, not where you remember it clustering
Every logged sighting and strike feeds the same map, so the pattern of where risk is heaviest on the airport shows up visually instead of depending on somebody's memory of the trouble spot.
A finding doesn't get written up twice
Promoting a WHMP finding straight into the SMS hazard register means the same issue doesn't get described from scratch in two different places.
Related
Works alongside
FAQ
Straight answers
How big is the species picker?
More than 270 entries, each paired with a photo so an ID can be checked against a picture instead of trusted to memory alone.
What's the difference between the activity log and the WHMP?
The activity log is the ongoing record of sightings and strikes. The Wildlife Hazard Management Plan is the annual written plan (hazardous species, attractants, and mitigations) that §139.337 requires once the trigger for one is met.
Can a WHMP finding turn into an SMS hazard?
Yes. Findings on habitat, population, reporting, training, or infrastructure promote directly into the SMS hazard register in one action.
Does the heatmap track sightings and strikes together?
Yes. Plot them together or isolate just one; either way, the map makes clear which parts of the airport see the most activity.