An lbe based pilot described the 'settlement pond' east of taxiway a between taxiway K and the south...

Attributes
ACN	1297606
Time
Date	201509
Place
Locale Reference	LBE.Airport
State Reference	PA
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Small Aircraft Low Wing 1 Eng Fixed Gear
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Takeoff Taxi
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Flight Engineer Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 25 Flight Crew Total 35000 Flight Crew Type 1000
Events
Anomaly	Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

Narrative:

Problem: supposed 'settlement pond' approximately 200 feet east of runway 5/23 at lbe. Location is northeast of taxiway kilo. Area is filled almost year round with water runoff. Cattail and weed vegetation fills 'pond' area. Area filled with frogs and insects (mainly mosquitos). Extremely large flocks of birds are constantly in this pond area. Size varies from blackbird size to large raptor. With a large corporate jet base; a far 121 air carrier service (5 to 7 flights per day) and 141 flight school along with large GA aircraft population a serious safety issue arises. Both tower and ATIS advise of bird activity. So we know airport is aware of problem on every takeoff no matter size of aircraft; bird flocks or individual birds arise from this area and on most occasions fly toward runway. On recent afternoon on 3 separate takeoffs I fully expected to have collision. Luckily none occurred. I feel this situation is intolerable and an accident waiting to occur. Solution: fill said area eliminating bugs which eliminated food which would eliminate birds in this area. I do not care of epa and or penna dnr regulations. Human life is more important than a cattail or bird.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An LBE based pilot described the 'settlement pond' east of Taxiway A between Taxiway K and the Southwest end of the terminal ramp. The pond is a bird feeding area attracting birds which become threats for aircraft departing Runway 5/23.

Narrative: Problem: Supposed 'settlement pond' approximately 200 feet east of Runway 5/23 at LBE. Location is northeast of Taxiway Kilo. Area is filled almost year round with water runoff. Cattail and weed vegetation fills 'pond' area. Area filled with frogs and insects (mainly mosquitos). Extremely large flocks of birds are constantly in this pond area. Size varies from blackbird size to large raptor. With a large corporate jet base; a FAR 121 Air Carrier service (5 to 7 flights per day) and 141 flight school along with Large GA aircraft population a serious safety issue arises. Both Tower and ATIS advise of bird activity. So we know airport is aware of problem on every takeoff no matter size of aircraft; bird flocks or individual birds arise from this area and on most occasions fly toward runway. On recent afternoon on 3 separate takeoffs I fully expected to have collision. Luckily none occurred. I feel this situation is intolerable and an accident waiting to occur. Solution: fill said area eliminating bugs which eliminated food which would eliminate birds in this area. I do not care of EPA and or Penna DNR regulations. Human life is more important than a cattail or bird.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

An lbe based pilot described the 'settlement pond' east of taxiway a between taxiway K and the southwest end of the terminal ramp. The pond is a bird feeding area attracting birds which become threats for aircraft departing runway 5/23.