FOD News Roundup – May 3rd, 2017

New FOD Prevention Standard

Need guidance for your facility’s FOD program? The Americas Aerospace Quality Standards Committee (AAQSC) has a new standard, AS 9146, which defines program requirements for organizations that supply aviation, space and defense products and services.

Image credit: Bigstock


 

The Mystery Birds

Accident investigators concluded that last year’s nonfatal crash of a US Air Force B-52 bomber during an aborted takeoff on Guam was caused in part by a bird strike — that may or may not have actually happened.

Image credit: US Air Force


 

Never Lose Track of FOD

Read this interesting report detailing how debris found near a FlyBe Bombardier Q400 parked at Belfast City Airport was dismissed as irrelevant, then disappeared after a smoke incident prompted an evacuation.

Image source: Wikipedia


 

NEW! Floor Marking Tape for FOD-Restricted Areas

FOD Zone™ Marking Tape A long-lasting solution for designating specific zones — such as aisles, walkways, storage rooms, hangars or work flow areas — as sensitive to Foreign Object Debris/Damage.

Image Source: The FOD Control Corporation


FOD News Roundup – April 3rd, 2017

Controlling FOD During Air Strikes

The US Air Force is studying ways to harden its overseas air bases against attack by “missile swarms” that can scatter debris across runways and ramps, rendering them inoperable.

Image: SMSgt Keith Reed, US Air Force


 

FOD Awareness (and music, too!)

UPS ramp personnel keep their work areas free of FOD, to the sweet sounds of “Angel (Dusted Remix)” by Sarah McLachlan.

Image: YouTube Screenshot


 

Real-Time Safety Data

The “Internet of Things” can provide industrial facilities with a pathway to high-quality data on safety failures, as they occur.

Image: Bigstock


 

NEW! Floor Marking Tape for FOD-Restricted Areas

Our new FOD Zone™ marking tapes provide a long lasting solution for promoting FOD awareness in hangars, aisles, walkways, and work flow areas in your facility. Contact us for more information.

Image Source: © The FOD Control Corporation. All Rights Reserved.


FOD News Roundup- March 3rd, 2017

Is FOD Threatening the US Missile Defense System?

When a test flight went awry, foreign object debris in the thruster’s internal guidance modules was blamed. Now a controversy has arisen over whether or not it will happen again.

Image: US Army


 

Jet vs. Deer

Never put yourself in front of an aircraft in motion. It doesn’t matter if you’re animal or human, you’ll lose the encounter, just as this deer did at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.

Image: skeeze, courtesy of pixabay.com


 

A Well-Timed Pit Stop

That’s how the ground handling manager at Daytona Beach International describes “turning” late-arriving passenger jet between its arrival on the ramp to its next scheduled departure.

Image: © Rusty Clark. Some rights reserved.


 

New FOD-Razor™ Demonstration Video

Watch our new, improved FOD-Razor™Airport Runway Sweeper in action, cleaning debris from an airport AOA quickly and efficiently.

Image Source: © The FOD Control Corporation. All Rights Reserved.


FOD News Roundup – February 3rd, 2017

How NOT to De-ice an Aircraft

Passengers aboard a Turkish Airlines jet parked at Sanliurfa Airport couldn’t believe their eyes when a pair of enterprising workers began pouring liquid over an icy wing from a large plastic water bottle — then dropped the bottle.

Image: Twitter (Jan 10) / @U_G_U_R_P.


 

Battling Birds at Dover Air Force Base

From firecrackers to traps to a dog named Memphis, the US Air Force employs numerous methods to control birds, foxes, deer and other wildlife at this critical facility for global airlift missions.

Image: Greg L. Davis, US Air Force.


 

Ramp Inspection on a Rainy Day

Ride along with the dash cam as a patrol vehicle navigates through glistening ramps and falling rain at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

Image: YouTube Screenshot


 

Size Does Matter!

Cut your sweeping time in half and double your equipment’s service life with a FOD-Razor™ Duplex Assembly. You can own this 16-foot-wide runway sweeper for less than $10,000. Learn more…

Image Source: The FOD Control Corporation


FOD News Roundup – January 3rd, 2017

FOD Impacts Mars Rover

Suspected debris inside of the spacecraft Curiosity’s rock drill motor is causing intermittent stalling of the device.

Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS


 

Military FOD and BASH Management

Watch these clips of military personnel removing debris and firing on birds at an airfield that hosts fighter jets.

Image: YouTube Screenshot


 

Safety Management System Anticipates Airport Issues

The FAA is giving managers at Part 139 airports a lot of leeway in how they implement new SMS regulations.

Image: Federal Aviation Administration


 

Rugged Hazardous Material Storage

Contact us for FOD-fighting tools that will keep your hazmat chemicals, fuels and other substances isolated and secure.

Image Source: The FOD Control Corporation


FOD News Roundup – December 3rd, 2016

Aircraft Windshields

Learn how their specialized construction protects pilots from airborne FOD, such as birds, hail, ice and fog.

Image Source: National Transportation Safety Board


 

Birds and More Birds

Over the years, Salt Lake City International Airport has trapped literally thousands of raptors feeding nearby.


 

Time-lapse Video

Watch this American Airlines ramp at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport.
Now imagine if your guys could work that fast.

Image Source: YouTube Screenshot


 

Our parts kit glows in the dark

 Never lose track of your small hardware in limited-light work areas; Our “UV Reactive” Trey Small Parts Organizers glow when exposed to UV light.

Image Source: The FOD Control Corporation


FOD News Roundup – November 3rd, 2016

Fighter Jet Crash Reveals FOD Problems

Fighter Jet Crash Reveals FOD Problems A US government investigation concluded that a Navy F/A-18F Super Hornet plummeted into the Persian Gulf last year after debris entered one of its engines during takeoff from an aircraft carrier. Then investigators found a second, unrelated source of chronic FOD on the carrier’s runway.

Image: Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Joshua Card, US Navy.


 

Airline Engine Explosion Breaches Housing

When a General Electric CF6 engine on a Boeing 767 failed during takeoff in October, the engine’s housing also failed to contain the explosion, scattering shrapnel as far as a half-mile away. Such an event can increase the danger of collateral damage throughout the airport environment.

Image: Wikipedia, FAA


 

The FOD & Fuel Caddy

The FOD & Fuel Caddy Don’t risk operations safety with an improvised solution! Securely store your waste test fuel and foreign object debris (FOD) on your helicopter landing area or other flight line, until you’re ready to dispose of it permanently.

Image: The FOD Control Corporation


FOD News Roundup – October 3rd, 2016

Internal FOD Grounds F-35’s

After a manufacturing glitch, deteriorating tubing insulation clogged up fifteen US and Norwegian FA-15A strike fighters at Luke AFB, as well as dozens of unfinished jets still on the production line.

Image Credit: SrA James Hensley, USAF


 

K-9 Runway Patrol

Watch a trained border collie who wears sunglasses chase birds away from the flight areas at Cherry Capital Airport in Michigan.

Image: Screenshot


 

A Million Drones

How safety regulators, drone operators and other stakeholders are responding to well over 900,000 small unmanned aerial vehicles (SUAV’s) now in the hands of consumers.

Image Credit: Federal Aviation Administration


 

Gowning for Clean Rooms

 Watch this step-by-step procedure for prepping your body and putting on required clothing before entering a sterile clean room.

Image: Screenshot


 

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD) Protection

Insulate your sensitive electronic components from electromagnetic field damage with our new Conductive Trey Small Parts Organizer, utilizing innovative carbon nanotube technology.

Image Credit: The FOD Control Corporation


FOD News Roundup – September 3rd, 2016

Wireless Power FOD

Can a stray coin stop your cell phone from charging? Texas Instruments explains how FOD lodged between the transmitter and receptor can prevent wireless devices from receiving an electrical power, in two videos: Wireless Power 101: FOD Introduction and Wireless Power 101: FOD Lab Session.

Image: Texas Instruments (screenshot)


 

Dropped Cell Phone in Cabins

What happens when you let your smartphone fall into your seat mechanism? It isn’t pretty for your phone or aircraft safety. Aerospace manufacturers are getting smart by designing storage spaces for phone owners flying in premium class.

Image Caption: PublicDomainPictures/Pixabay


 

600,000 Drones?

It’s going to get crowded up there. New applications for certification as a commercial drone pilot are pouring in, after the FAA loosened up requirements. As a result, the agency expects that well over a half-million new UAV’s will take to the skies within a year.

Image Caption: Image: A1C Kirby Turbak, US Air Force


 

Helicopter vs. Towel

Yes, you can crash a Huey into a mountainside with a dirty piece of rag. A pilot suffered minor injuries during a logging operation after a towel somehow ingested itself into the inlet guide vanes, according to an NTSP investigation of the 2015 incident.

Image Caption: Image: Tendencia/Pixabay


 

Fuel / Liquid Spill Berms

The FOD Control Corporation now offers custom-designed temporary berms to contain hazardous or environmentally-sensitive spills.

Image Caption: Image: FODControl.com


FOD News Roundup – August 3rd, 2016

FOD Tips from the NTSB

An AA-5B prop plane brought down by paint chips? If you’re an aircraft mechanic, read this Safety Alert from the National Transportation Safety Board. Includes recommended practice for controlling FOD during MRO activities, a collection of failure examples and a list of informative links.

Image: Shop rags in compressor case. Source: NTSB.gov


 

Video: Medical Cleanroom

Take a walk through Brentwood Industry’s 12,000 square foot ISO Class 7 cleanroom at its Reading, Pennsylvania manufacturing plant, with custom thermoforming, injection molding, airlock entrance to maintain air pressurization, dedicated gowning room, and a segregated material loading bay.

Image Source: YouTube (screenshot)

 


 

Wet Pavement Safety

Don’t you just hate it when your airliner skids across a rain-soaked runway and into the nearest control tower? Starting in October, the Federal Aviation Administration will require that federally-obligated airports use the new TALPA procedures to assess the safety of runways that are not dry. Review these online resources for improving air operations during inclement weather.

Image Source: Federal Aviation Administration

 


 

Great Flocks of Drones?

The United Kingdom is confronting a surge in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s), which nearly collided with manned aircraft more often in the first six months of 2016 than during all of 2015. British authorities are trying to assess the potential dangers of a drone strike, as compared to the more common bird strike.

Image Source: Wikimedia Commons


New! FOD Bags Available Online

OK, you’ve dutifully picked some FOD off the ground. Now what do you do with it? These rugged FOD Bags offer a flexible, portable and lightweight place to store found debris for later disposal.

Image Source: The FOD Control Corporation