Unfriendly skies: Forest Lakes, the Miracle on the Hudson, and Canada Geese
The way that a pilot named Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger saved all 155 onboard his disabled commercial jetliner was the feel-good story of 2009. Locally, however, the "Miracle on the Hudson" helped launch some bad feelings in the Forest Lakes neighborhood.
Since the incident and following a series of Congressional hearings and the release of previously confidential FAA data on bird strikes, thousands of the geese across the country have been rounded up and slaughtered as part of the airline industry's efforts to make flying safer.
But the mass killing has outraged bird lovers and ruffled feathers at Forest Lakes where 90 Canada Geese were rounded up and killed in early July. Some Forest Lakes residents have come forward to say that despite their neighborhood's proximity to the airport, Forest Lakes geese actually pose little risk to planes.
"It's hypocrisy, and it's all about money," says resident Arthur Epp, who lives in a house overlooking a lake where the geese once swam and raised their young.
While federal officials say the geese killing will bolster the safety of the flying public, Epp says there's plenty of data to back up the claim that the airline industry is most concerned with making people think they're safer.
Who is right?
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