Issues, Information, And Actions To Help Prevent Foreign Object Damage
Aviation industry professionals have long decried the lack of a standard, readily available course of instruction in FOD prevention for personnel who work in FOD-sensitive areas.
To help fill that void, the National Center for Aerospace & Transportation Technologies (NCATT) has developed a formal set of written instructional materials in FOD / FOE Awareness. An examination and certification in FOD / FOE Awareness is also available. [Read more…]
The CRACKSWEEP sucks up FOD in recessed areas like tie downs, grounding points, hangar door tracks and expansion joints. The RAMP VAC sweeps surface FOD from hard to reach areas like hidden corners, spaces between equipment and buildings, along fences, and around vehicles.
For more information, click The FOD Control Corporation link at the bottom of this page, call (800) 425-8383, or email info@fodcontrol.com.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is now registering for an airport wildlife training course on January 23-25, 2013, at Burbank Bob Hope Airport, CA, that complies with FAA Advisory Circular 150-5200/36.
Yes, it really does happen, as the folks at Glasgow International Airport in Scotland can most definitely confirm.
The following article is a synopsis of an article called “Foreign Object Debris (FOD) Program at KSC.” The complete article can be found at www.hq.nasa.gov.
According to Kennedy Space Center, FOD is defined as follows: Damage to, or malfunction of, a launch vehicle or payload caused by any foreign object(s) that are alien to flight systems. This may cause material damage or it may make the system or equipment inoperable, unsafe or less efficient. [Read more…]
Researchers have found that there is not an adequate forum for U.S. military FOD program managers to share information and help raise awareness. The study, conducted by the U.S. Air Force Laboratory at Wright Paterson Air Force Base, concluded that effective FOD prevention results from a combination of good equipment, training and awareness [Read more…]
An Inter Iles Air Embraer EMB–120ER Brasilia crashed into the Indian Ocean on November 27 shortly after takeoff from Moroni’s Prince Said Ibrahim International Airport (FMCH) in the Comoros Islands. All 25 people on board the aircraft survived when it came down in the water approximately 3.5 miles north of the airport. Two people received minor injuries in the accident.
A Cessna Citation II registered to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency and operated by Stevens Aviation was destroyed in a daytime landing accident at Greenwood County Airport (KGRD) in South Carolina on November 17. During rollout, a deer crossed the active runway and collided with the aircraft’s left wing, tearing open the fuel tank and igniting a fire that left only the nose of the aircraft intact. The two crewmembers escaped unharmed.
The U.S. NTSB is assisting Mexico’s Dirección General de Aeronáutica Civil (DGAC) in the investigation into the crash of a chartered Learjet 25 that claimed the life of Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera early Sunday morning. The twinjet disappeared from radar just minutes after it took off from Monterrey, Mexico, at 3:15 a.m. local time following her concert there, for a flight to Toluca. [Read more…]
The 2006 goal of the International Helicopter Safety Team (IHST) was bold: reduce helicopter accidents by 80 percent by 2016. Unfortunately, rotorcraft accident numbers have not dropped as precipitously as those of commercial transport aircraft.
“We are not finding new ways to kill people in helicopters,” an IHST representative told AIN. “We are making the same mistakes over and over again.” [Read more…]
A French appeals court has overturned the manslaughter verdict against Continental Airlines resulting from the July 2000 crash of an Air France Concorde soon after takeoff from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). The initial ruling held Continental liable for the accident on the grounds that maintenance errors caused a 16-inch piece of titanium to fall from one of the U.S. airline’s DC10s during its takeoff roll just moments before the Concorde’s. [Read more…]
My wife told me a rather scary story once about a visit to an oral surgeon’s office in another state. She was told to get a root canal by her regular dentist and so came in for a consult. The receptionist took her go back to the examination room and after waiting a few minutes, Margaret decided to have look around. When she did, she was rather surprised to say the least. There before her was a room that hadn’t been “sterilized”. Margaret could see that it still contained dirty instruments, blood-spattered equipment and general disarray. It was about then that she remembered that she had urgent business elsewhere and had to “re-schedule”.
The US Air Force’s working group dedicated to preventing bird strike and wildlife problems at military airfields. The BASH team serves as the guiding resource for military airfield operators on how to reduce bird hazards.
Transport Canada’s Aerodrome Wildlife Control Program
Probably the most comprehensive site on the Web dealing with bird strike hazards. Includes bird avoidance brochures, airport wildlife bulletins, control procedures manuals, bird strike summary reports, bird strike report forms, and proceedings of the Bird Strike Committee of Canada. Published in English and French. [Read more…]
