It’s Never Too Early To Say I Told You So

Especially when there is money to be made and special interests that can be goosed:

State-of-the-art bird radar that costs just $500,000 to install at airports could have prevented the US Airways crash, the system’s maker said Friday.

“For the cost of this one accident, I could put this system in every major U.S. airport,” said Gary Andrews of radarmaker De-Tect Inc.

The bird-detection radar system is in place at six U.S. Air Force bases and is being installed at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.

It could have alerted Flight 1549 pilot Chesley Sullenberger that dangerous flocks of geese were in his flight path.

“Nothing is foolproof, but it would have likely spotted the geese,” Andrews said. “The pilot could have tried to avoid the flock, or they could have told him to hold on the ground.”

Radar or no, the tug-of-war between planes and birds is unlikely to end anytime soon.

Experts say they have tried everything from scarecrows to fireworks. They say there is no surefire way to eliminate the dangers posed by flocks of birds near airports.

. . .

Geese experts and animal advocates say the measures are wrongheaded, cruel and — most importantly — ineffective.

A group called Geese Peace says the Port Authority mostly ignored its 2004 plan that included destroying prime nesting grounds and eliminating goose-friendly grassy areas.

“If this plan had been implemented, today there would be thousands of less Canada geese in and around the port of New York,” said David Feld of Geese Peace.