Judge John Gleeson ruled that the feds and the Port Authority were carrying out the bird-hazard reduction plan within legal limits. The lawsuit was filed by a Colorado-based advocacy group last year following the fatal shootings of three snowy white owls.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Friday, October 3, 2014, 7:44 PM
A federal judge has shot down a lawsuit that sought to stop the killing of snowy white owls and migratory birds near New York City airports so they would not pose a threat to aviation.
Friends of Animals, a Colorado-based advocacy group, filed the suit last year in Brooklyn Federal Court in response to the fatal shootings of three snowy white owls at Kennedy Airport.
Judge John Gleeson ruled that the feds and the Port Authority were carrying out the bird-hazard reduction plan within legal limits, but expressed hope that they could “find the tools to diminish the danger to planes without killing so many birds.”
Jennifer Barnes, a lawyer for Friends of Animals, said she was disappointed and would explore options pertaining to whether the ruling could be appealed.
It was disclosed during the litigation that nearly 9,000 birds of various species were killed at city airports in 2012 to prevent them from being sucked into jetliners’ engines — a situation that can bring down a plane. A bird strike was blamed for the engine failure that forced hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger to land a U.S. Airways jet in the Hudson River in 2009.
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