All discussions to date regarding wildlife activity have focused on birds, however, this approach neglects our four-legged friends that also pose a significant hazard to aviation. Toronto International has a long-documented problem of wildlife within the airfield perimeter impacting aircraft operations.

As Mr. Kotyk has accepted CADORs reports as acceptable indicators of aviation risk, let’s compare some of the ground-based wildlife incidents that occur at the TCCA and Toronto International.

Non-Bird Wildlife CADORs reports, since CADORs inception:

CYYZ: 55 (Exclusive of birds)
TCCA: 3 (five total, but two were bird related)

The wildlife incidents at Toronto International are quite concerning when we take a closer look at them. They include:

32 wildlife strikes (Deer, coyotes, rabbits, foxes, and skunks,)
31 wildlife-caused overshoots (Deer (1), Coyote (10), Other (20))
1 Rejected Take-Off

At the TCCA, one incident was due to a loose dog from the park side, and two due to fox sightings. No strikes, but two overshoots were reported. One might conclude from this that, with respect to ground based wildlife, the isolated island location is actually a safety ADVANTAGE.

An unplanned, late-approach/low-altitude overshoot in a heavy-category airplane is an extremely complex task requiring considerable skill and timing. This is a much different task than an anticipated instrument missed-approach due to weather in a Q400 at the TCCA, and yet TCCA missed-approaches form a key pillar in your safety argument (discussed later).

If aviation safety is your true interest, your efforts would produce greater safety returns if you turned your attention towards Toronto International and its wildlife problem.

Peter Jay