Issues, Information, And Actions To Help Prevent Foreign Object Damage
Compliments of U.S. Navy “Mech” Magazine
By AM3 Edgar Crook
It was a hot, muggy, summer day in the Persian Gulf, and, as usual, I had a full day’s work ahead of me. Aircraft 403 was moved down to the hangar for a Phase C, 7- through 84-day, and 200-, 400-, and 600-hour inspections. The Hornet’s Phase C includes a look at all flight-control servocylinders-not a tough inspection, but we made it harder than necessary. [Read more…]
FAA tests several automated FOD detection systems at US airports. If successful, the agency might publish standards that will allow airports to apply for federal money to purchase them.
For the past fifteen years, a wildlife specialist has used specially-trained raptors to chase birds from Leeds Bradford International Airport.
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4/9/2008 – LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. (AFPN) — The Air Force’s newest and most technologically advanced fighter, the F-22 Raptor, is under attack here.
Free-falling clams dropped by in-flight birds are regular air threats to the F-22 as gulls drop fist-sized mollusks on the Langley Air Force Base runway to break open the shell-fish appetizer.
The birds’ shelling device just happens to be a convenient launch pad for the F-22. Although the gulls remove half their mess — slurping up tender meat from the runway — they leave behind hard, brittle sea shells for an F-22 to suck up through its engine intake that can cause severe damage.
Although the Air Force is wildlife friendly, Lt. Col. Lawrence Spinetta, the 1st Fighter Wing Safety Office chief, isn’t willing to let a $10.2 million jet engine go to the birds — or the clams. [Read more…]
Mr. Alex Orosz at United is a leader in the effort to control FOD on civilian airfields. This link outlines portions of United’s FOD program and interesting FOD damage statistics. http://www.nafpi.com/presentations/2000/nafpi.pdf
Read the Naval Aviation Maintenance Program Standard Operating Procedures for FOD control. The FOD program is on Page 142 of the document or 150 of the PDF file. The Tool Control program is on page 151 of the document or 159 of the PDF file. [Read more…]
Spend too much time searching for mislaid tools? The latest issue of the Naval Safety Center’s Mech Magazine features several insightful articles on the topic of Tool Control.
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The FOD*BOSS makes debris pickup quick and easy, and could save millions in aircraft repairs.
Using specially designed bristles and scoops on an 8-foot-wide sweeper that is pulled behind any vehicle, the FOD*BOSS scoops up debris and holds it in a retaining mesh.
Researchers at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California propose creating a prototype for a small robotic vehicle – dubbed “The Creature” – that can locate and remove FOD aboard naval aviation vessels.
Click here for the PDF .
An aviation industry guideline to the Management of Wildlife Hazards is the title of a comprehensive (300+ pages) book from Transport Canada. For about $25 bucks you get reports and instruction about all phases of aviation’s continuing challenge of preventing bird and mammal strikes. Written by a team of top wildlife management experts, covering the basics to latest technology. View a summary here.
To order: www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/menu.html
11/14/2007 – ALI AIR BASE, Iraq — If a rock bouncing out of a gravel truck can crack a windshield, imagine what that same rock can do to a jet’s engine or a cargo plane’s propeller. [Read more…]
Get you point across any way you can! The Air Force Safety Center has produced some cool FOD posters as part of their ground safety collection.
In a recent update, the 35-page pamphlet for the Army Aviation Accident Prevention Program now describes a FOD prevention program.
Rat In Da Vat!
Assessing Your Airport’s FOD Culture
by Master Sergeant Steven Ball
Foreign Object Debris (FOD) in aircraft costs billions of dollars each year worldwide. FOD can be a nuisance when it delays a flight, can cause over a million dollars in damages when it enters an aircraft engine, or worse…
During high school I worked summers cutting grass at a wastewater treatment facility in New Jersey. Large, open concrete pools and miles of grass. Every now and then, I’d bag a rat that was too bold and got careless.
