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.

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If you think about it, “foreign objects” are not a problem unless they are not Deposited correctly and therefore cause Damage. In order to prevent FOD (Damage) you first need FOC (Control and/or Collection).

In the best of all worlds, no foreign objects such as tools, fasteners, wire clippings and the like would ever be left behind in the workplace. But given the task of dealing with a less than perfect world, we strive to do our best at “Control” and “Collection”. [Read more…]

For a detailed timeline of all the events that led up to and since the French Concorde crash, visit  www.aviation.about.com. This website offers many details about the ongoing investigation into the Concorde FOD crash. Interesting to note: On January 6, 2001, French air accident investigators revealed that before the Concorde crash outside Paris last July, there had been six previous incidents in which burst tires had perforated Concorde fuel tanks.

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Scientists at NASA built a gun specifically to launch dead chickens at the windshields of airliners, military jets and the space shuttle, all traveling at maximum velocity.  The idea is to simulate the frequent incidents of collisions with airborne fowl to test the strength of the windshields.
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UNITED STATES AIR FORCE FOD REGULATIONS

(Air Force Instruction AFI21-101)

To read the US Air Force instructions for FOD control, click here. The FOD program is on Page 324. The Tool Control program is on page 233.

From THE NET – The Atlanta Worldport Safety Newsletter

In 2005 Foreign Object Damage (FOD) Cost Us About $16,000,000

FOD Prevention gets serious attention at Boeing’s Airport Technology Group web site. Find informative articles designed to help airport management with a variety of planning, engineering and function evaluations. Contents include: Boeing Planning & Engineering Services, Manuals and Product Information; Rescue & Fire Fighting; aircraft 3-views with movement and placement information; and a link to the slides from Brad Bachtel’s presentation, Challenges to Airport Ramp & Runway Debris Control.

Full text at www.boeing.com/commercial/aviationservices/

Forensic science isn’t just for crime scene investigations anymore. Now it can locate the source of a FOD incident.

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This letter from FODNews.Com reader at NAS Pax River
demonstrates how they “make it happen” daily.

September 2004
A major US airline flight departing Chicago O’Hare Airport with over one hundred passengers on board experienced a forced emergency landing, likely the result of a “bird-strike” encounter with geese. After takeoff, the aircraft began experiencing critical engine problems almost immediately. Several callers phoned to report seeing flames as well as an explosion. A spokesperson for the airline reported that along with an engine fire and its ensuing damage, missing pieces from the engine may have fallen in the surrounding communities. Fortunately, no injuries or damages have been reported from the ground. The 107 passengers left the plane unharmed.

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