Farewell to Foreign Objects

Well-Planned Program Helps Eliminate

Sources of Debris from Your Aviation Facility
By Philip Terry, PE, SE
Commercial and military aviation have a funnysounding acronym, FOD, which stands for
foreign object damage or foreign object debris.

Anything and everything that is not secured can become debris.

Metal (wire, pieces, flakes/chips, drill
shavings)
Stones, rocks, twigs
Plastic, paper, cloth, rags
Plaster, concrete, pavement
Insulation
Construction debris
Paint (chips, excessive overspray)
Dirt and rust particles
Spider webs (they collect things and
clump together)
Debris in trenches, sumps and corners
Animal bodies, nests and droppings
Weld slag/spatter

Damage to an aircraft or engine attributed to

a foreign object is FOD.1 FOD can also be
the items (debris) that damage the aircraft, the
article or substance that is alien to the aircraft or
engine assembly.1 (See Figures 1 and 2.) For the
purposes of this article, FOD is the debris that
causes damage. (See Table 1.)
Most FOD can be attributed to poor
housekeeping, facilities deterioration, improper
maintenance or careless assembly, and inadequate
operational practices.2

Loose personal items jackets, paper,

pens
Tools
Weak, spalled, feathered edges, chipping
concrete and fins
Uncaptivated fasteners
Small screws without room temperature
vulcanization (RTV)
Rivets
Nuts or bolts not welded, not wired or
without locknuts
Clamps, brackets, clips, hooks, chains,
hasps
Cable ties and Velcro

Table 1: Examples of FOD.

The costs of foreign object damage to aircraft

and engines are high. According to a 1998
article from Boeing, FOD costs commercial and
military aviation worldwide around $4 billion per
year. Boeing reports that repairs to an engine
damaged by foreign objects can easily exceed
$1 million.3
The Defense Contract Management Agency
reports that in the past 5 years, (naval
aviation) alone experienced over $36 million
in reportable damage due to FOD.4 But its
not only the dollar value of the damage that
is of concern. There are also the possibilities
of injuries and deaths, compromised military
missions, schedule delays and damage to other
equipment or facilities.
FOD prevention programs are primarily oriented
toward manufacturing (assembling the aircraft)
and ramp operations. Those programs highlight
issues such as tool control, parts control,
rag control, jewelry and dress, housekeeping,
vehicle cleanliness, controlling packaging
and manufacturing debris, incentives, awards
and publicity.

TECHBriefs 2006 No. 4

Figure 1: Foreign object damage to engine fan.

Figure 2: Typical foreign object debris.

Engine Vibrations
In its 108-year history, Burns & McDonnell has
designed hundreds of aviation-related projects.
Some of these projects were for installed and
uninstalled engine testing (acoustic enclosures,
test cells and run stations, for example).
During engine testing, wind- and engine-induced
rocking or thrust will cause the structure to
move. Also, the intense sound from the engine
(in the 140 decibel or above range on an A scale)
causes the structure to vibrate. These acoustical
vibrations are powerful enough to dislodge

Burns &McDonnell

Acceptable techniques include:

Unacceptable techniques include:

Weld nuts tacked to bolt shank

Nuts/bolts wired per NASM 33540
(Safety Wiring)
Locknuts one piece, solid metal; hexhead; castellated; full-height; installed
and torqued to manufacturers written
instructions; meeting military or national
aerospace standards, matching adjacent
metal substrate

Cable ties (plastic or metal) and Velcro

Locknuts with plastic inserts
Improper wiring
Spot/undersized tack welds
Locknuts not installed to manufacturers
torque
Adhesives
Rivets
Tape, looped wires and other ad-hoc/
improvised methods

Note: RTV is not permitted where locknuts or welding can be achieved. There may be rare
instances where lock nuts or welding cannot be achieved. In those cases applying certain
types of RTV adhesive sealant may be acceptable.
Table 2: Captivation methods.

unsecured items, to completely unscrew bolts

and screws, and to cause cracks in seemingly
good welds and to fracture plates. Also, normal
exposure to the exterior atmosphere (moisture,
temperature) will cause facility components to
deteriorate. It is desirable that deterioration or
failed/broken items be identified at an early stage
so that they can be repaired before the structure
is weakened and before they become FOD.
The items that loosen can vibrate off ledges
and fall to the floor. If they are light, they may
be blown (by air movement from jet engines
or wind) directly into an engine. On the floor,
they may be blown along the floor until they
are ingested into an engine. If they fall behind
the engine, they may be blown into aircraft or
engines or toward personnel as projectiles.

Knowing the sources of FOD allows engineers to

eliminate or reduce those sources. All sources are
a real danger to aircraft, but it is not possible
to predict which potential source of FOD will
actually be the source that will lead to damage
or injury. The industry standard is to eliminate/
mitigate all potential sources and to regularly
inspect facilities for deterioration of components
and accumulation of debris.
Facility Inspection
Over time, vibration may cause equipment,
devices or components of the structure to loosen
or break. Inspections are required to determine
if any of the elements have moved, deteriorated,
cracked, broken, become damaged or weakened.
Inspections need to be thoroughly, patiently
and carefully performed by trained personnel.
Inspections should be organized, with progress
tracked so that no areas are missed.
Inspections are tedious because almost every
square foot of the structure and its components
are visually examined to ascertain if something
is damaged/degraded and if it has the potential
of becoming FOD. Inspectors make decisions
about the integrity of fasteners, components and
other items. They are looking for minute cracks
and missing items. Its a hands-on process
because they need to touch surfaces and probe
into crevices.

Engineers incorporate features into testing

structure designs to reduce the probability of
structural components becoming FOD. They also
eliminate surfaces where FOD can accumulate.
In critical areas, horizontal surfaces are reduced
and tight, hard-to-clean spaces are eliminated.

Concrete floor joints, edges of embedded items

and grout under equipment or columns should be
examined carefully. Any concrete edge has the
potential to crack, chip, splinter, separate
and dislodge. The edges of cracks may be
chipped, separated and subsequently dislodged.
Joint sealant may also become loose or separated.
Any suspect material, regardless of size,
tightness or location should be identified and
reported/removed.

Continuous welds replace spot welds, and

fasteners are captivated. The purpose of
captivation is to prevent the fastener (nut, bolt,
screw) from rotating off the end of the bolt or
out of the hole; to prevent the fastener from
becoming FOD and to prevent whatever the
fastener is holding (cover, plate, sheet metal)
from becoming FOD. (See Table 2.)

Any device, fixed or portable, subject to the high

energy levels created during engine testing is
prone to damage and may create a potential FOD
hazard. Inspectors are looking at items prone to
breakage or loosening, such as: electrical conduit
caps and breaker boxes; conduit and piping
supports; fire alarm and detection devices; hoses
and wires; access covers and associated handles,

Burns &McDonnell

TECHBriefs 2006 No. 4

hinges and hardware; bolts, nuts, washers and

welds; and captivation fasteners.

In addition to appropriate personal

protective equipment, inspectors/cleaners
will need:

Inspections should be documented with a report

stating:
Date and time of inspection
Name of inspector(s)
Written description of items and locations
found during inspection
A signature from an appropriate supervisor
stating that the inspection was made.

Lifts, ladders/scaffolds
Lights for examining poorly lit areas
Stiff brushes (large, medium and small), dental
pick type tools and scrapers for cleaning surfaces
and dislodging small items and testing concrete
surfaces for delamination/soundness
Non-water-soluble paint sticks (yellow, white or
red) for match-marking fasteners
Mirrors for looking behind equipment or structures
Shop vacuums with long extension cords and hoses
and nozzles with wide and narrow tips (it may be
necessary to fabricate small nozzles to vacuum in
narrow spaces)
Buckets or pouches for collecting debris

Items should be marked with indelible markers.

The report and markings provide a history for
facility maintenance decisions.
During the inspection, a thorough cleaning
of all horizontal surfaces could be performed,
but we typically recommend that the facility
be inspected separately from cleaning, and
that following the cleaning the facility be
inspected again.
Facility Cleaning
FOD is removed by manually picking up loose
items (screws, nuts, tools, paper) and placing
them in specially marked FOD containers or by
loosening items with brush, scraper or other tools
and vacuuming. (See Table 3.)

Table 3: Necessary equipment for facility cleaning.

Bottom Line
A well-planned FOD minimization, control and
identification program can substantially reduce
repair budgets and cut the risk of injury or
death, whether in an aviation facility or other
industry. In new construction, the key is to
implement FOD procedures from the beginning.
In an existing facility, a careful cleaning and
maintenance program can reduce FOD concerns.

We do not recommend high-pressure compressed

air or water to clean surfaces. They can force
debris into cracks and crevices rather than
remove it. Engine vibrations can then loosen the
debris from the cracks and allow it to move into
the air stream.
A limited and careful use of low-pressure
compressed air (such as from cans of compressed
air used for office dusting) can be helpful. In
areas that are difficult to reach with small tools
and fingers or by blowing with the mouth (such
as behind or underneath several parallel conduits)
low pressure compressed air from the container
can gently move items to a place where they can
be vacuumed or picked out by hand.
Water also has the potential for aiding corrosion
of the structure. Low pressure water may be
used to wash down concrete walls and floor
slab surfaces.

TECHBriefs 2006 No. 4

Philip Terry, PE, SE, is an

Footnotes
1. Definitions are adapted from FOD Prevention Guideline, 2000,
National Aerospace FOD Prevention Inc.
2. Aerospace Industries Association, National Aerospace Standard,
NAS 412, 1997.
3. Boeing Aeromagazine, Issue 01, January 1998.
4. DCMA Information Memorandum No. 06-163, May 16, 2006.

Burns &McDonnell

associate structural engineer

with the Aviation & Facilities
Group of Burns & McDonnell,
and has 25 years of experience
specializing in the design of
industrial, government and
aircraft facilities.
For more information, please e-mail:
pterry@burnsmcd.com