A UNF faculty member is embarking on a plan which could significantly reduce the danger of plane crashes at the nation's airports by using specially trained Border Collies. Dr. Nicholas Carter is leading the effort as executive director of Border Collie Rescue Inc., a nationwide program to find adoptive homes for the ever-increasing number of unwanted Border collies. Carter, an assistant professor of communications, is joined by other volunteers in running the rescue operation at a 15-acre center near Melrose. He believes that Border collies can effectively eliminate the problem of birds around runways being sucked into jet engines of aircraft.
Bird strikes can be deadly.
In 1995, for example, an Air Force E-3 Sentry plane sucked geese into the two left engines on takeoff at Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage. The plane crashed killing 23 crew members. Carter will get a chance to prove his program later this month when his first trained Border collie will be placed at Southwest International Airport in Fort Myers which has had a recurring problems with large number of wading birds congregating near its runways. It is believed to be the first commercial airport in the world to use this innovative program. Border Collie Rescue Inc. has been operating since 1990 as a non-profit organization dedicated to placement of the traditional herding dogs.