A Twickenham resident has been made famous by Tony Parson’s latest book, Departures; Seven Stories from Heathrow.
Simon Newbold, Heathrow’s chief birdscarer, is depicted in one chapter, The Young Man and the Sky, showing his staff how to catch birds that have made their way on to the runway.
Birds pose a very serious risk to the safety of planes and Mr Newbold uses a variety of techniques to minimise the danger.
As well as using rubber bullets and fire crackers, Mr Newbold’s 28-man team also employ more sophisticated techniques, including playing bird distress calls on a load speaker.
There is an average of one bird strike a day at Heathrow but, thanks to Mr Newbold’s efforts, the skies and birds are better protected.
Departures; Seven Stories from Heathrow, is out now.
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