Preventing foreign object damage

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Christopher Hummel
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Foreign Object Damage prevention is a fight for life and a matter of financial importance at Luke.
 
FOD is anything that potentially impairs an aircraft's ability to fly, according to Gary Chaplin, FOD Control Corporation president. That's what makes it so crucial to identify potential FOD sources and keep people motivated 100 percent of the time to eliminate it, he said.
 
The biggest weapon in this fight is the daily FOD walk, according to Master Sgt. Steven Hult, 56 Fighter Wing FOD program manager. Every day before flying begins, units of Airmen walk side-by-side, canvassing Luke's runways and aircraft parking areas. These daily walks are conducted by eight aircraft maintenance units - it takes this large group of people to cover the more than 1.2 million square yards of flightline. The job is such a large undertaking a towable friction mat called the FOD boss plays an essential role. The FOD boss sweeps and clears ramps and runways of debris as small as a pebble, which could cause damage if swept into a jet engine.
 
According to Sergeant Hult, sometimes FOD is unavoidable. Birds and other animals can be swept into the intake during takeoff or while flying, causing major damage to the engine. 

"We had a bird strike Dec. 5, which caused $11,000 in damage," said Sergeant Hult. "So far in fiscal year 2008 we've had three FOD incidents. We're trying new ways to improve our FOD prevention; our immediate results are outstanding."
 
The wing annual FOD walk was Jan. 3 and 1,500 Thunderbolts collected more than 375 pounds of debris, Sergeant Hult said.
 
For more information about FOD and how to fight it, call Sergeant Hult at (623) 856-6767.