Pilot: Airports and Garbage Dumps Don't Mix

WASHINGTON (AP) - A bird magnet near a runway -- USAirways pilot Jeff Skiles says the idea is "just insane."

He knows a thing or two about birds and airplanes since he was co-pilot of the plane that ditched into the Hudson River off
Manhattan in January.

He says New York City's plan to build a very large garbage transfer station about 700 yards from the end of a LaGuardia
Airport runway risks drawing even more birds to flight paths.

But the city and the FAA insist that the 2,000 tons of garbage won't entice birds because the waste will be kept in containers or
inside a building.

Rep. Gary Ackerman, whose constituents are unhappy with the project, says the plan defies common sense.

LaGuardia is the nation's 19th busiest airport, with 378,521 takeoffs and landings in 2008. It's the same airport used by
USAirways Flight 1549.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)