A Word on FOD

[janikpilot]

Today I went to my home airport to casually watch the jets take off and land, from the public viewing park they have by the threshold of one of the runways. This is a common activity for me, but today I noticed something that normally isn't there. Trash. Little plastic grocery bags and paper blowing around on the side of the road, right up against the barbed-wire airport fence. The 'airport security' sitting on the other side of the fence in his white F-150 didn't even notice it blowing in front of him. Granted, it wasn't exactly a ton of trash, but it was definitely enough to get sucked into a jet engine and do who knows what to an aircraft. It just surprises me that somebody who has a job of protecting an airport can't spend the 5 minutes it would take to pick up some trash.

I posted this thread in hopes that if you ever encounter FOD (Foreign Object Damage) at your local airport, to pick it up and throw it away, even if it's just a small piece of paper. Especially if you fly out of an airport with jet traffic.

 

[Jim Logajan]

The FAA AC on the subject:

http://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/150_5210_24.pdf

Their terminology section has this to say on the acronym:

d. Foreign Object Debris (FOD). Any object, live or not, located in an inappropriate location in the airport environment that has the capacity to injure airport or air carrier personnel and damage aircraft. NOTE: The FAA is cooperating with international aviation organizations in an effort to develop a standard, international definition of FOD. If, and when, such a definition is developed and adopted by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), that definition will take precedence over the one provided in this AC.

e. Foreign Object Debris (FOD) Damage. Any damage attributed to a foreign object that can be expressed in physical or economic terms which may or may not downgrade the product’s safety or performance characteristics. NOTE: For the purposes of this AC, and to reduce confusion and ensure consistency in language and terminology, “FOD” will only refer to the phrase “foreign object debris.”