A nesting pair of burrowing owls
at the Boca Raton Airport.
Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
A few American kestrels call the Boca Raton Airport home.
Jerry Lower/The Coastal Star
By Rich Pollack
Life near the Boca Raton Airport may become much safer for gopher tortoises, raccoons, migrating snowbirds — even the human kind — and a multitude of other critters, thanks to a new study designed to keep accidental meetings of wildlife and planes to a minimum.
Wildlife biologists made their first visit to the Boca Raton Airport last month and began a yearlong assessment — largely funded by the federal government — to determine which bird species may be making unscheduled landings and takeoffs on the runaways and what other animals might transverse the tarmac when no one is looking.
The study, required beginning this year by the Federal Aviation Administration for airports with the level of jet service Boca Raton now has, is primarily focused on keeping pilots and passengers from getting injured.
In the process, however, the study could help a variety of species, including a colony of endangered burrowing owls that have already taken up residence on the airfield.
“Anything that enhances the safety of the flying public and the wildlife is beneficial for the airport and for the community,” said Clara Bennett, executive director of the airport. “This is really a neat project and we’re really excited about it.”
During the next 12 months, wildlife biologists and others from the consulting firm of Loomacres Wildlife Management of Warnersville, N.Y., will visit the airport to do multiple surveys each month from six sites on the field.
Once the survey is completed, researchers will provide the Boca Raton Airport Authority with a series of recommendations designed to improve safety.
“The report will include a whole menu of steps we can use to mitigate wildlife strikes,” Bennett said.
The study will include night visits and will also survey areas within a five-mile radius to determine which geographic conditions — such as lakes and open fields — might increase the chance of wildlife strikes.
The airport abuts the FAU Preserve, home to burrowing owls and gopher tortoises. Owl nests on airport property are marked to ensure they’re not disturbed during maintenance.
The assessment has an estimated $90,000 price tag with the FAA picking up 90 percent of the tab and the Boca Raton Airport Authority responsible for the remaining 10 percent.
The airport authority also recently received approval for another grant from the FAA, which is designed to enhance safety.
With an estimated $300,000 in federal dollars and about $30,000 from its own budget, the authority will move forward on design of an Engineered Material Arresting System at the north end of the runway.
The EMAS system will use crushable concrete placed at the end of the runway — visible from Spanish River Boulevard — to stop an aircraft that overruns the landing strip. Tires of the aircraft would sink into the lightweight concrete, slowing the aircraft as it rolled through the material.
The system is in use in 51 airports throughout the country, including 14 general aviation airports.
There have been seven instances where it has been used effectively — including one in Key West — to stop planes that overran the runways, according to Bennett.
“This is one of those things you need to have that you hope you never have to use,” she said.
The estimated cost of the EMAS project is expected to be more than $5 million, with the vast majority of the funding coming from state and federal government sources and the airport authority contributing the rest.
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