MSU studies vultures for NASM

Turkey vultures have been a pain - and the bane - of military aviators, especially those in training throughout the southeast, for decades. They’ve cost dozens of aircraft incidents from crashes, clogged engine intakes to smashed cockpit windshields. Over the past several years, Mississippi State University Associate Professor Scott Rush has been tagging and tracking Black and Turkey Vultures across Mississippi to learn more about their movements and how to help mediate the risks these birds pose to aviation. Their grant-funded research study was coordinated with Naval Air Station Meridian after pilots noticed an increase in vulture sightings on training flights. The base reached out to MSU for a solution. Low-altitude training flights conducted by student-pilots at NASM risk run-ins with the scavengers. Small birds “can be dangerous” ... but vultures aren’t small, Rush said. High-speed aircraft colliding with a vulture could be catastrophic. Rush hopes state leaders can make informed landscape management decisions and plan for a future where humans and vultures coexist. (Source: Meridian Star 12/22/21) SHARING THE SKIES: MSU researchers study vultures to improve aircraft safety | Local News | meridianstar.com