Who is the FOD Boss?
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From TWA's "Plane Safe" Newsletter
First, the big quiz. What does the acronym, FOD, mean? Foreign Object Damage. The term has also come to be colloquially used as a noun (foreign-object-debris), and therefore refers to all the loose pieces of concrete on ramps and taxiways, ice and snow chunks, baggage wheelies and locks, nuts and bolts, plastic bags, rocks and stones, and other debris on our ramps and airport environs. While each small piece may seem inconsequential, collectively they represent a huge problem.
Each TWA gate should have a FOD bucket on the ramp, somewhere near the jetway stairs leading to the aircraft. If you see debris on the ramp, please pick it up. Why? Each piece, no matter how small, has the potential to ruin an engine or cut a tire. Damaging a single fan blade on a B-757 engine costs about $26,000. How much do you think we have spent already this year on FOD damage? Incredibly, those miniscule items we all have seen have cost us $12,000,000 in the first five months alone! If twelve million doesn't bother you, consider that one B-757 in San Juan had both engines damaged by loose concrete. Is this an airplane you'd like to put your family on?
Beyond the FOD buckets, you may have noticed two additional ways we are dealing with the problem. Flight crews on the MD-80 check their aircraft's wings for ice before every departure.
(Because of cold-soaked wings from high altitude flight, this airplane has the unique ability to make ice from humid surface air, even in the summer. Right behind the wing are - the engines.) New in the last few months at JFK and STL is the ultimate FOD gadget, the FOD BOSS. This is a large square membrane material that is pulled around by a special tug. At first glance, it doesn't look like much, but it sure is doing the job. We have just set a corporate record by going a full month without a single FOD damage. Please don't rest on our laurels, because there truly is only one FOD BOSS - - YOU.
Captain Hugh Schoelzel
Vice President - Corporate Safety
The F.O.D. Control Corporation
8987 East Tanque Verde Road
Building 309 - Mail Stop #360
Tucson, Arizona USA 85749-9399
Toll Free + 800-HALTFOD (800-425-8363)
or + (520) 760-7732
Fax + (520) 760-7734
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