Fight Against FOD Never Ends

Foreign object damage can often become the hidden killer for pilots.

Richard Scarbrough

Monday, September 16, 2024 at 08:57 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Kimberly Johnson

433rd Airlift Wing members at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland perform an FOD walk to clean foreign objects and debris from the flightline. [U.S. Air Force/Staff Sergeant Lauren Snyder]

Key Takeaways:

Foreign Object Damage (FOD) is a pervasive and costly problem in aviation, causing billions of dollars in annual losses globally and posing severe safety risks, from aircraft damage to catastrophic accidents and loss of life.
FOD encompasses a wide range of objects, from misplaced tools and maintenance debris to natural elements like birds and cicadas, with incidents often resulting from negligence but also unforeseen circumstances.
Effective FOD prevention requires a comprehensive, multi-faceted approach involving strict tool control, meticulous inspections, continuous awareness and training programs for all personnel, diligent housekeeping, and the implementation of specialized prevention technologies.

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“I believe I just ingested a flashlight.”

That statement is precisely what one does not wish to hear when test-running an aircraft following a maintenance event. The situation worsens when the aircraft is a $109 million F-35A Lightning II fighter. In January, Stars and Stripes reported that on March 15, 2023, “a hand-held flashlight left inside an F-35 engine by maintainers at Luke Air Force Base last year caused $4 million in damage.” It seems that after using a flashlight to inspect the poorly lit intake of the F-35, the maintainer failed to clear the tool before test-running the engine.