Issues, Information, And Actions To Help Prevent Foreign Object Damage
Laser pointers being directed into the cockpits of aircraft are becoming an increasing hazard for pilots as these powerful handheld lasers become more affordable and widespread. There were 3,960 such strikes reported last year, the FAA says. That’s up from 283 in 2005.
Attacks are particularly common in New York and Los Angeles, and they often obstruct the work of the targeted pilots.
Several American Airlines flight attendants were taken to a hospital in Miami on December 23rd when they were overcome by a strong odor.
They were aboard Flight 281 as it was preparing to take off on a scheduled flight to Los Angeles when the pungent smell entered the cabin.
American spokeswoman Andrea Hughley explained that the odor emanated from a leaking cargo bin filled with fish.
Passengers were not directly impacted by the fumes, but were forced to return to the terminal.
The airline delayed the flight for five hours to replace the crew, unload the aromatic cargo and clean things up.
The flight resumed its California journey later that day.
Despite their renowned wisdom, snowy owls migrating south are mistaking airport runways for safe habitat, putting themselves, and air travelers, at risk. Right now, perhaps the largest ever number of Arctic snowy owls — yes, the type beloved by Harry Potter and friends—are descending on the Northeast and Great Lakes states in one of what may be several waves of arrivals. (Such an influx is called an “irruption,” just for the record.)
It’s hard to get trustworthy counts because of how scattered the birds are now and how extensive their range is, stretching from Newfoundland to Bermuda. But the numbers appear to be unprecedented, and bird experts aren’t exactly sure why.
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Boston Logan International has become the first airport in the US to use an automated runway FOD detection system. The airport has had the state-of-the-art FODetect system installed, developed by Xsight Systems, that has been sited on runway 09-27, which is the busiest departure runway at Boston Logan.
The technology locates foreign object debris and improves operations to provide safer and more streamlined travel. FOD refers to any misplaced object found on airport surfaces that can damage aircraft, engines, tires or fuselage, potentially risking passenger safety, disrupting airport services and causing expensive damage.
Alon Nitzan, president and CEO of Xsight Systems, says: “Objects such as dislodged aircraft pieces are now being safely detected and removed, protecting aircraft and passengers. “Airport operators now have the ability to detect and remove objects as they appear on runway surfaces in between flights – a huge advantage which can save airlines millions of dollars in potential damage to aircraft, and enhance safety by adding a new layer of protection for passengers.”
The FODetect system is a supplement to the manual FOD inspections airport personnel are required to perform. It aims to improve the daily operation of airport runways by increasing safety and efficiency.
Engineers from Airbus and their customer Easyjet have teamed up to create an artificial ash cloud to test a sensor that could help avoid massive airspace closures after a volcanic eruption.
When a volcano erupted in Iceland in 2010, it filled the skies over Europe with a massive ash cloud. From April 15-21, 2010, more than 100,000 flights were cancelled as officials scrambled to assess safety. The closures cost the airlines an estimated $2.6 billion.Flights had to be cancelled because the ash can cause structural damage as it melts inside aircraft engines and sticks to engine blades. It also sticks to windshields and can interfere with other instruments. The ash is difficult to detect and track because it is incredibly fine.
Europe could see a repeat situation within the next couple of years, experts say, because Icelandic volcanoes erupt about once every five years. If the wind is blowing to the northwest, the ash ends up in European skies.But the next time it happens, pilots should be better equipped to assess the dangers, with the help of a new sensor designed to detect ash in the atmosphere. Engineered by European airline easyJet, aircraft maker Airbus, and Nicarnica Aviation, the Airborne Volcanic Object Identifier and Detector (AVOID) would be mounted on aircraft.
The new FODetect foreign object debris (FOD) detection systems went operational in mid-May at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion International Airport (LLBG). The equipment, developed by Israeli company Xsight Systems, was certified after an evaluation process and soft launch on Ben Gurion’s primary Runway that begun in August of 2012.
“During the past nine months [of testing] an average of six items per month were collected from the runway,” said Yair Gannot, safety director with the Israel Airports Authority. “We had no case of FOD found by our manual inspectors that was not earlier detected and visualized by the automated FOD detection system,” he added.
Foreign Object Damage – or FOD – costs the Navy almost $90 million a year. That’s why combating FOD is a priority for sailors on the San Diego-based USS Peleliu.
The Navy put together this video on how Pelieliu sailors do their part to scope out foreign objects, some smaller than a dime, to keep their ship running smoothly.
The USS Peleliu is currently deployed in the 5th Fleet area of responsibility.
A tool left inside the engine of an Airbus 330 caused a mid-air engine snag shortly after take off in India, forcing the Paris-bound aircraft to return to the Mumbai city airport early on March 12th. There were 212 people on board the Air France flight.
Air France has said the “foreign object” found in the engine hood had nothing to do with the engine dysfunction but others disagree.
About 10 minutes after the aircraft took off, the pilot reported smoke in the cabin and suspected a snag in one of the engines. The cockpit crew reported engine failure to the ATC tower and sought permission to land on priority. As per procedure, fire tenders, an ambulance and airfield vehicles were deployed, and the aircraft landed safely at 3.41am. Passengers were sent to a hotel.
A chisel-like tool used to lay a coating on engines to absorb its sound was found inside the engine hood, said sources from the DGCA who inspected the aircraft. The aviation safety regulator’s preliminary probe report said the tool inside the engine could have caused the dysfunction.
“It seems like the tool caused the snag and also disrupted the system used to maintain temperature and pressure within the cabin, which is why there was smoke,” said a source.
An aircraft maintenance engineer may have forgotten the tool during routine check, sources said.
An Air France-KLM spokesperson said: “An investigation will take place. The foreign object will be analyzed. According to available information, this object found in the engine hood has no link with the engine dysfunction.”
Israel’s Xsight has developed its new FODetect system to help airport managers keep runways clear during rainstorms or even in the middle of the night. Using a small swiveling radar transmitter and sensor unit installed near the runway’s edge, the FODetect beam sweeps the runway as often as every 30 seconds and, like traditional radar, highlights–both visually and aurally–objects as tiny as a rivet that may have fallen unnoticed from vehicles. The operator watching the FODetect screen will also see a high-resolution image of the object that caused the alarm. During nighttime hours, the unit uses a laser pointer to indicate objects on the runway to airport personnel. The crash of an Air France Concorde in July 2000 soon after takeoff from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport was attributed to the supersonic jet running over a piece of metal that had fallen off the Continental Airlines DC-10 that departed just a few minutes before. The metal was not detected prior to the Air France flight taking the runway for takeoff.
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After 30 years, a runway begins to show its age.
Repeated landings of 150,000-pound aircraft at Tulsa International Airport’s 10,000-foot main north-south runway have taken a toll on the pavement, airport executives said.
Last reconstructed in 1982, the main runway is undergoing a $19.9 million rehabilitation involving 7,000 feet of pavement. Two earlier phases of the runway reconstruction rebuilt 1,200 feet at the north and south ends of the runway.
The contractor, Interstate Highway Construction Inc. of Englewood, Colo., is scheduled to complete the runway work by May 15, barring weather delays.
The work includes pulverizing and hauling away the 18-inch-thick concrete and laying down 60,000 cubic yards of new concrete over an 18-inch-thick cement-treated rock base.
The runway reconstruction could not be postponed any longer, said Airports Director Jeff Mulder.
“The pavement is breaking up, creating FOD, which is bad for (aircraft) engines,” he said.
FOD is an acronym for foreign object debris or foreign object damage.
FOD is any object that does not belong in or near airplanes and, as a result, can damage airplanes or injure airport or airline workers, says the Federal Aviation Administration and Boeing Co., the airplane manufacturer.
FOD incidents cost the aerospace industry $4 billion a year, Boeing says.
FOD includes rocks, pavement fragments, hardware, catering supplies, building materials, sand, pieces of luggage and wildlife.
“FOD is found at terminal gates, cargo aprons, taxiways, runways and run-up pads,” Boeing says in a briefing paper “Foreign Object Debris and Damage Prevention.”
“It causes damage through direct contact with airplanes, such as by cutting airplane tires or being ingested into engines, or as a result of being thrown by jet blast and damaging airplanes or injuring people.”
The most famous incident involving FOD in recent years was the collision in New York City between a flock of migrating Canadian geese and US Airways Flight 1549 on Jan. 15, 2009.
The ingestion of the geese shut down both engines of the US Airways plane at 3,200 feet just after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport.
Without power, the Airbus A320 was reduced to a glider.
Fortunately, Capt. Chesley Sullenberger III was a veteran glider pilot and expert glider flight instructor.
Sullenberger guided the plane to a landing in the Hudson River between New York and New Jersey and all 150 passengers and crew were evacuated safely, news reports said.
But the bird strike in New York isn’t an isolated FOD incident, government and industry officials said.
