At this rate, the geese are winning.
The feds are taking far too long to develop an effective bird-detecting radar that could prevent terrifying episodes like the crash-landing in the Hudson of a US Airways jet, pilot-union officials said yesterday.
The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration have been working for 10 years to develop the technology, but say it’s still unproven and will require years of refinements.
“That is not a satisfactory time frame,” said Rory Kay, safety chairman for the Air Line Pilots Association.
With officials so far failing to heed The Post’s call for goose eradication around airports, the radar technology may be the only way to avoid bird strikes like the one that knocked out the US Airway jet’s engines last month.
Recently, Air Force officials have offered to test a bird-radar system at JFK Airport.
While radar is capable of detecting birds, it’s useless unless it can pinpoint their altitude and distance from the airport.
“[If birds are] 1,000 feet and five miles from the airport, they’re not an issue,” said Kay, who is a pilot.
“I’m going to be well over 1,000 feet by the time I’ve gone five miles from the airport. But if they’re at 1,000 feet three miles from the airport, they’re right on the flight path if I’m making an approach.”
lukas.alpert@nypost.com