MDA offers $3M grant to NASM

MERIDIAN, Miss. - The Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) will pay a $3M grant to establish an interior fence to keep wild animals off the runways at Naval Air Station Meridian, an NASM official told the Meridian Star. The chain-link fence would be built inside an existing fence surrounding the base. Deer, cattle, hogs and coyotes have reached the property in recent years. A local farmer reported that a hunter killed a sow near the fence last month, said Jim Copeland, community planning and liaison officer for NASM. Pigs have a low center of gravity and can cause a plane to lose control if hit by the nose wheel, Copeland said. In 1988, the pilot of an F-16 fighter jet was forced to eject after the jet struck wild pigs at Jacksonville (Fla.) International Airport. The pilot survived and the $16M jet was destroyed. Copeland said the Secretary of the Navy would need to approve the MDA grant, which could happen by this summer. (Source: The AP 01/18/20)