FOD News Archives

Don't Let FOD Boss You Around
I also visited the Naval Test Pilot School and came across a product the maintenance department loves and uses regularly. The new weapon in the war on FOD is called the FOD*BOSS. (Read more)

The FOD Poems of Master Sergeant Frank Merchant, Whiteman AFB, Missouri. Print these out for distribution at future FOD meetings.  (Read More)

Self-Locking Fasteners Can Drive You Nuts!
You all have seen or heard of "The Right Stuff."  How about The Right Part?  We have too many incidents where using the wrong hardware resulted in aircraft damage.  Never forget the few seconds you save will cost a whole lot more when you redo the work.  Isn't "Excellence in all we do" one of our core values?  (Read More)

Foreign Objects Can Become FOD
by MSgt Steve Ball, Minot Air Force Base
I was headed to Texas on temporary duty. As I sat in one of those big airports, waiting for a long layover to end, I began watching the baggage handlers down below. They move real fast and can load up a jet Pretty Darn Quick (PDQ). Anyway, I was watching these guys driving around for about 30 minutes when I started to look at something else down there in the loading area: Yup. FO! You know, Foreign Objects that can lead to Foreign Object Damage (FOD)! The funny thing was, it wasn't on the ground exactly.   (Read More)

A Rag With A Mind Of It's Own
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)

Do You Have All the Pieces?
Aircraft maintenance personnel were tasked with troubleshooting a C-5 #3 engine generator discrepancy. Worker 1 performed the outside walkaround and the required intake/exhaust inspection of all four engines. During the #4 engine inspection he found a nut and washer missing from the fan stopper. The fan stopper is a wooden handle with a heavy rubber tip attached to sheet metal and secured by three screws. He finished the inspection of the #4 engine, then re-inspected the P3 engine to ensure it was clear of FOD. Finding none, he documented the inspections in the aircraft forms. Good work ethic, right?  (Read More)

It's a Jungle Out There - On the Ground and in the Air
Takeoffs and landings get especially interesting when birds and wildlife come out to meet you or see you off. They don't read security notices, so you need some way to anticipate and avoid getting fowled.  (Read More)

Canada's BIRD AVOIDANCE BROCHURE
graphically illustrates ways to improve your odds against bird strike danger. It's not cool to fool with Mother Nature - especially near airports. Visit Transport Canada's site here to download this seven-page jewel that could save your life or your job. Concise, well organized and illustrated. Call Wildlife Control Specialist, Bruce MacKinnon, for more details. He's at Aerodrome Safety Branch, Ottawa.

Boeing's Brad Bachtel, C.M. breaks down Challenges to Airport Ramp & Runway Debris Control in Power Point presentation.
Download this clear, concise series of slides to reinforce your FOD Control training.
www.boeing.com/assocproducts/aircompat/

Running an Effective FOD Prevention Program
Landing gear safety pins ingested by a running jet engine; a socket wrench jammed in a flight control bell crank mechanism; a stray piece of safety wire that shorts out a circuit breaker panel: All of these scenarios represent Foreign Object Damage (FOD) that could wreak havoc on combat or training missions. Even if AFI21-101, Maintenance Management of Aircraft, didn't require it, we'd have no trouble recognizing that an effective FOD Prevention Program is vital to safe, successful flying activities in today's Air Force. (Read more)

FOD can have devastating effects on a jet engine because the intakes operate like giant vacuum cleaners, sucking up anything and everything in their path.  (Read More)

FOD and Your Maintenance Facility
Steps to setting up and maintaining a FOD Program in your maintenance facility. (Read more)

Boeing website covers a variety of airport issues
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/assocproducts/aircompat/ 

Supervisors' attitudes determine success or failure of FOD Prevention policy
Every supervisor must be involved in selling the FOD Prevention attitude every minute, every day with every employee or visitor. When leadership demonstrates a diligent, positive attitude toward the banishment of every potential debris threat - large or small - employees will embrace the concept. FOD Prevention is seldom entertaining, but nobody wants the trauma of a serious FOD Incident. Read tips for supervisors from the Australasian Aviation Ground Safety Council at www.aagsc.org/resources/wac/fod_prevention.htm.

e-Search tips when studying FOD on Internet
According to the Jargon Dictionary, the definition of FOD means two things:

FOD /fod/v. [Abbreviation for 'Finger of Death,' originally a spell-name from fantasy gaming] To terminate with extreme prejudice and with no regard for other people. From MUDs where the wizard command 'FOD <player>' results in the immediate and total death of <player>, usually as punishment for obnoxious behavior. This usage migrated to other circumstances, such as "I'm going to fod the process that is burning all the cycles." 

In aviation, FOD means Foreign Object Damage, e.g., what happens when a jet engine sucks up a rock on the runway or a bird in flight. Finger of Death is actually a good description of what this generally does to the engine.

There are many other uses of the acronym FOD:

• Fax on demand

• Field of dreams

• Fatty Acid Oxidation Disorder

• Friends of Dorothy Travel

• Frank O'Dwyer's Security Sources

• Finger of Death

• Finishing on Demand

• Forest of Dean Diet

• Fighters of the Death

• Fog of Deception

So...when searching the Internet, use the words, "Foreign Object Damage" so you don't waste time getting unwanted information about the "Finger of Death" and other non-foreign object damage websites.

New visuals add impact to FOD Prevention message
Seeing is remembering, and the short VHS presentation, "FOD," drives home the point that potential FOD threats are everywhere, and there is no warning, no second chance for a careless mistake. Well done by the Australasian Aviation Ground Safety Council, working ground crew, safety officers and airport CEO's speak of actual experiences and prevention needs. The producers emphasize the specific responsibilities of educating visiting contractors, craftsmen and others about the crucial need for controlling debris at airside.

"The only defense is prevention."

About 10 minutes, available in vhs or pal at www.fodcontrol.com/awarenes_prods.html

If It Were a Snake... ...wait a minute, it is a snake! This photo sent in by one of our users shows a crewman taking care of this unusual preflight problem.  (Read More)

Just in time for those holiday FOD meetings "The Night before Flight 9, in the Land of FOD" - A poem by Fred "The FODFixer" Reid  (Read More)

Real-Time Tool Tracking
Anyone who has worked in manufacturing or maintenance knows how easy it is to lose tools, but a small U.K. company may have found a fool-proof solution. Instead of trying to track the tools, Coplan Ltd., based in Milton-Keynes, has turned logic on its head and opted to monitor the tool box. (Read more)

Border Collies Fight FOD on Airfields
Besides a cool page about border collies used for wildlife control, this page features a flock of interesting bird control links: http://birdstrike.bcrescue.org/birdlinks.html 

Fastener Control Guide for US Navy Helicopter Squadrons
Concise but detailed directions for handling missing fasteners. (Read More)

Foreign Object Debris (FOD) Program at Kennedy Space Center (KSC)
FOD prevention and training programs using the simple formula of AWARENESS + PREVENTION = COMPLIANCE improved the reliability of Space Shuttle processing.  (Read more)

SAN FRANCISCO INTL AIRPORT SWINGS INTO ACTION WITH THEIR FIRST ANNUAL SAFETY FAIR! (Read more)

Enhancing FOD Control with Artificial Turf (Read more)

ALASKA AIRLINES SAVES BIG $$$
Employee Diligence Proves Key In Reducing FOD Damage (Read more)

Feathers Can Cause Hard Landings
These photos prove aircraft and geese don't mix.
(Read more)

Shedding Some Light on FOD
Five minutes to flight quarters and my flashlight doesn't work. I was already late, the HAC had already strapped in, and I was just now getting to preflight my SV-2. Luck would have my flashlight going from fading in and out the night before to not working at all. Hindsight would say the responsible thing to do would have been to take care of the problem the night before. However, I found myself taking the easy way out. I thought, "Nobody's around; there's no time to find new batteries. No harm, no foul, I'll just grab a flashlight off of one of the SV-2's hanging above me, return it when I get back, and no one will be the wiser." Bad idea. This was the first mistake in a string of them, which ultimately led to me downing two aircraft. (Read More)

Who is the FOD Boss?
Would you like to get rid of loose pieces of concrete on ramps and taxiways, baggage wheelies and locks, nuts and bolts, rocks and stones, and other debris on your ramps and airport environs? And get it done fast? (Read more)

The Many Faces of FOD  by Bob Baron, Learjet Crews International, Inc.
It was only a few years ago that I realized just what FOD could do. It was a bit ironic actually. We flew a Learjet into a major overhaul facility where they proceeded to perform a complete overhaul on both General Electric CJ610 engines. After about 4 weeks, the aircraft was ready to be picked up with two "like new" engines. We did our cursory walkaround inspection and low and behold: a bunch of FOD damaged turbine blades on one of the engines!  (Read More)

FOD Mishaps - They Pretty Much Ate Our Lunch in FY01
Let's take a minute and talk about FOD.
While we addressed it in some depth last year, it's apparent that we didn't do a good enough job getting our word across. It's especially true when you look at a couple of the Class A FOD events from FY01. (Read More)

FOD Prevention Perfection?
Now over the horizon, but we're getting better. We know that the best combination of forces in a successful FOD Prevention Program is convenient but efficient technology, and conscientious human beings. (Read More)

Why It Pays To Be Careful Around Running Engines
The jet was undergoing the final stages of its major periodic inspection.  It was on the trim pad for some engine- running op checks and three Maintainers - an engine run person, a ground person, and a specialist-type person - were responsible for seeing to it they were done. (Read more)

What do you say when hit by a frozen chicken? 
The funny side of testing. The developers of the impact research "chicken gun" have fielded some unusual questions and squawks while accumulating information about bird strikes. Here's a good example.
www.strangeplaces.net/weirdthings/chickengun.html 

The Perfect Engine Run
With a combined experience of over 60 years repairing and operationally testing jet engines, this was just another "regular" day for this experienced run team. The long Alaskan winter was almost over and spring was in the air. The team members busied themselves looking at the engine's maintenance records to ensure every thing was in order. The T56 turboprop engine had been removed for metal on the magnetic drain plug and had required a reduction gearbox change earlier in the week. After the gearbox assembly was replaced with a new unit from depot, the Jet Engine Intermediate Maintenance (JEIM) shop technicians performed a pre-Test Cell inspection and called Test Cell for the test run. After another careful inspection, Test Cell technicians towed the engine to the facility for loading, initial leak check and functional checks.  (Read More)

Databases expand regarding high velocity impacts to aircraft
Researchers are accumulating good data. Their objective is to simulate and measure effects of high velocity impacts on composite aircraft structures in controlled conditions. Targets include wing leading edges, nacelles and any primary aircraft surfaces that could be subject to high velocity impact from such threats as bird strike or other foreign objects. FAA requires tests of new engine designs, including causing an explosion of the blades to test the containment ability of the fan case. 
More at www.af.mil/news/airman/0296/duck.htm

Why It's Important To Do A Thorough Intake Inspection
Mishap aircraft (MA) engine start, taxi, takeoff, flight and landing were uneventful for the twin- engine jet. Thruflight inspection revealed the MA had sustained a bird strike on the right side of the fuselage in front of the No. 2 engine. First stage fan blades did exhibit some damage, so the mishap engine (ME) was borescoped, and additional fan blades were found damaged. (Read more)

Take a look...FOD is dangerous!
An airline cargo container sucked into a jet engine? Have you seen what bird strike can do? Visit www.aviationpics.de for these and other photos on aircraft with foreign object damage. Take a look....you will be amazed at what FOD can do!

Concorde Crash Raises Issues
FOD is foreign object debris, like the 16-inch piece of stray metal believed to have caused the Air France Concorde crash outside Paris that killed all 109 people on board and four on the ground. (Read more)

Concorde Crash Updates
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.

There have been 57 formally recorded tire blowouts for the Concorde, with nearly 50% of the blowouts occurring during takeoff caused by foreign object debris. Of these 57 recorded incidents, 21 were not formally studied because of lack of recorded information. Here are the statistics:

• 12 have lead to structural damage to wing

• 6 of which resulted in punctured fuel tanks

• 19 were caused by foreign objects

• 22 during takeoff

• 1 where the tire perforated the fuel tank

Reports from the 21st National FOD Prevention Conference

Cooperation needed between airlines, airports

Educate outside contractors

Cost estimates emerge

Read More

New Weapon in War on FOD
A Tucson, Ariz. business is touring military bases demonstrating the FOD*BOSS. This specially designed mat picks up debris using the energy generated from a vehicle pulling it. (Read more)

Commercial Airlines Joining Efforts
A number of commercial airlines attend each year's FOD Prevention Conference, but the commercial level of FOD prevention involvement still needs to pick up the pace. (Read more)

SHARING THE SKIES
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

Bird Watching
The problem with bird strike is likely to get worse, particularly with the growing numbers of migrating Canadian geese, say experts attending the Bird Strike Committee USA/Canada. (Read more)

You Pick: Cheap Lesson or Expensive Mishap
"Wake up. Wake up, boss. We gotta talk." That plea came from my roommate, the MMCO (Maintenance and Material Control Officer), early one morning as we neared the end of a six-month cruise in the Persian Gulf. As I tried to shake off the previous night's sleep, he showed me a small aspirin bottle.

I blankly stared at him and the bottle, at a total loss until he showed me a digital picture of the same aspirin bottle wedged between some cables. When I realized I was looking at flight-control cables, the horrifying perception that five of my squadronmates could have been killed hit me like a Mack truck. I was awake now.  (Read More)

94 Airlift Wing FOD Program
A concise guide to the basic elements and procedures of an individual US Air Force Wing's FOD prevention program. (Read More)

FOD Wars: New Weapons to Defeat a Familiar Foe
Separated from its coffee-cup companion, a plastic cap propelled by jet exhaust haphazardly careens across an airport tarmac. To most people, this urban tumbleweed is an irksome, but harmless, traveler on today's landscape.

To an aviation professional, such litter is anything but harmless. It is FOD. And whether the acronym stands for foreign object debris or foreign object damage, FOD can kill when ingested by an aircraft. (Read More)

United Airlines FOD Program
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

Assessing Your Airport's FOD Culture "Every now and then, I'd bag a rat that was a little too bold....."  (Read More)

Want to Know Where Your FOD Came From?
There is a way to find out, and not only is it
called F.A.S.T. - but it is that, too!
by MSgt Steve Ball, Minot Air Force Base
This process is an investigation technique carried out by Mr. George Morse of F.A.S.T. using an electron-scanning microscope to determine the identity of foreign materials left behind on damaged areas during a FOD event.  (Read More)

IT'S OK TO GET CAUGHT HOLDING THE BAG - JUST MAKE SURE ITS A FOD BAG (Read more)

Sweet Tooth Creates FOD Incident,
Damages Ground Equipment
Carelessness can trigger FOD
and ruin your day in a hurry.
(Read more)

COOL FOD POSTER!
Sent in by a "FOD Brother" way out in the field. (Read more)

Brain Teasing FOD Puzzles For Your Crew
A little something different to offer the group at your next FOD Meeting. (Read more)

Real World Tool Control at Naval Air Station Patuxent River
Letter from FODNews.Com reader at NAS Pax River demonstrates how they "make it happen" daily. (Read more)