Photo Credit: Los Angeles Times, 28.6.10, Cleanup at LAX Runway Turns into Treasure Hunt of Sorts
How? By delaying takeoffs and landings they decrease airport capacity. In fact, FOD costs billions of dollars annually worldwide.
In different surroundings, FOD (foreign object debris) would be insignificant because they can be as small as a bolt or as innocent as a rabbit.
At airports, they can cause serious damage.
How? When FOD is found on airport runways, taxiways or aprons, their presence can damage airplanes during takeoff or landing, as tires blow or engines malfunction.
The potential damage is not just to aircraft. Airport personnel and passengers are in danger from damaged equipment.
Examples of FOD: fragments of runway pavement, silverware from airline catering, building materials, rocks, pieces of luggage, and animals.
Although most risky FOD is on runways, aircraft can also encounter them at terminal gates, cargo aprons, and taxiways.
For inert objects, Xsight's FODetect™ patented electro-optic/radar solution uses a surface detection unit (SDU) for continuous automatic detection. It scans an entire airport runway and taxiway system in less than 30 seconds, delivering critical time-to-action in less than 60 seconds.
Xsight's FODetect™ also provides protection against moving objects. This features time-based tracking including a movement pattern that helps predict the animal's next position while preventing continuous alerts for a single animal.