A handful of U.S. airports will soon begin testing experimental radar systems designed to track flocks of birds.
Aviation officials hope the systems might help pilots avoid the type of collision believed to have crippled a US Airways jet over the Bronx.
Flight 1549 landed safely in the Hudson River after colliding with a flock 90 seconds after takeoff at LaGuardia Airport.
The new technology can monitor birds as far as six miles away from an airfield.
Experts and FAA officials said they don't yet know if the systems will ever be reliable enough to serve as an anti-collision system.
But they might help airport managers see when big flocks are moving toward a flight path.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
