Report following Paris crash in 2000 says threat of tyre damage from debris on runways is still cause for concern
The risk of tyre damage from debris on airport manoeuvring areas remains a serious problem, a new UK Civil Aviation Authority study has found, following the Concorde crash in Paris in 2000.
The Concorde accident inquiry found the cause of the crash – which occurred almost immediately after take-off from Paris Charles de Gaulle airport – was a main-gear tyre explosion after it was cut by a strip of metal lying on the runway.
The CAA carried out its research "at one major [UK] international aerodrome" over 10 months in 2003-4. The largest piece of foreign object debris (FOD) its inspectors found on the runway was a wheel chock, says the report, despite the fact that the airport operator carries out four runway FOD inspections each day and one at night. The CAA determined that the chock had probably been placed temporarily in an aircraft wheel well by a towing crew, who then forgot it.
The agency says: "The FOD found on taxiways and stands is normally attributable to aerodrome vehicles and the equipment they tow. The size and shape of this FOD poses a significant risk of subsequent tyreburst and/or aircraft or engine damage." FOD on runways, says the CAA, is mainly aircraft parts and metallic honeycomb structures "similar to the FOD that was found to be a causal factor in the Concorde accident". Also found on runways were torches, tools and equipment from maintenance hangars or work done during aircraft turnaround.
The CAA's recommendations include:
* all hangar and airside personnel should be taught about FOD – both preventing it and spotting it – during their induction and continuation training;
* airport operators and companies that carry out airside work should, individually and collectively, review FOD events as "a standing agenda item" at safety meetings;
* although technology for FOD detection "should not be discounted" for the future, the CAA says "it should only be used to supplement current inspection methods".
A Qinetiq FOD-detection radar system was tested "successfully" at London Heathrow airport last year, says the company, as well as at Vancouver and New York Kennedy airports.
Qinetiq says its system detects "suitcase-wheel size debris" from 2km (1nm), and is particularly effective in poor visibility and at night when human checks risk failing.
DAVID LEARMOUNT/LONDON
Source: Flight International
