Swans spark crash fear for City airport flights

Feathered threat: Swans and geese near London City airport

Planes taking off from London City airport are at "significant risk" of being brought down by swans, aviation bosses have warned.

Flocks nesting in Docklands have been seen flying close to Britain's leading business airport, used by almost 8,000 passengers a day.

Airport executives have written pleading with east London residents not to feed the swans "as a matter of urgency" and have ordered a "relocation programme" to reduce the risk.

They say swans flying between Western Beach and Royal Victoria Dock "pose a significant risk of bird-strike" which could cause "a serious threat to aircraft, passengers and the local area."

Bird strikes, one of the most common causes of air accidents, have been blamed for a number of emergency landings in recent years. The airport has started to move the swans, which are owned by The Queen, to a new home at Windsor. But some alarmed residents want all flights grounded until the programme is complete.

Campaigner Alan Haughton, 39, of nearby Blackwall, said: "If there is this clear and present danger, flights should halt immediately."
The airport, which got permission to move the birds from Natural England and the Swan Marker, the Queen's adviser on swans, hopes to protect them but warned that if the programme fails, a cull may be needed.

The airport said: "We have a wildlife management programme in place to ensure any risk is mitigated. We initiated the relocation in the interests of passenger safety and to avoid bird strikes, as well as for the safety and wellbeing of the local community and the swans - 27 were moved and the rest will go in the coming weeks."

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