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Questions tagged [foreign-object-damage]

Damage to an aircraft due to another object striking it; the best-known type is when an object is sucked into one or more of the aircraft's engines, but other types also occur.

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34 votes
5 answers
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Would it be viable to install a screen in front of jet intakes to prevent them from sucking in birds?

Why isn't there a protective screen with large diameter holes (approx 2') mounted in front of the jet engine intake to protect the turbine blades? This would keep larger birds and large ground debris ...
garyv440's user avatar
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34 votes
1 answer
4k views

What would have happened if the jet engine on my aircraft had ingested caulk from the pavement?

I was recently on a flight - the aircraft was a 737-800 - where I had a good view of the front of the left engine. The situation in the title did not occur, but it seemed awfully close. After ...
Flambino's user avatar
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25 votes
3 answers
4k views

What sort of debris has been found in 737 Max fuel tanks?

There have been numerous reports of Boeing finding "foreign object debris" in the fuel tanks of its 737 Max airliners. It's not clear what this debris is. It could range from a couple of missing ...
Party Ark's user avatar
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19 votes
1 answer
934 views

How does the Harrier avoid engine damage when operating from dirt fields?

The Harrier V/STOVL jet was designed in order for its users to be able to retain a functional air force even with all conventional airports destroyed; to this end, it can take off from, and land in, ...
Vikki's user avatar
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15 votes
3 answers
2k views

Could a golf ball damage an airliner?

Question Would a golf ball ingested into an engine, or impacting a windshield cause meaningful damage to a commercial airplane? The scenario below outlines that this is possible, but the principle ...
Dan1701's user avatar
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14 votes
7 answers
12k views

Can a helicopter's main rotor mince a human?

Prompted by one of the answers to a prior question of mine regarding a scenario involving a helicopter mincing someone with its main rotor in flight: ...I suspect having a human body come in to ...
Vikki's user avatar
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14 votes
1 answer
1k views

Would a tumbleweed sucked into a jet engine on takeoff cause a serious problem?

I saw tumbleweeds going across flight path in El Paso, TX and it made me wonder, especially after seeing what birds can do. Would a tumbleweed ingested by a jet engine on takeoff cause serious ...
Rosemarie Downs's user avatar
11 votes
3 answers
7k views

Why aren't all fighter jets' engine intakes on top instead of forward?

Reading the question and answer to How does the Yak-130 fly with blocked engine inlets, I am now wondering why it - or any fighter jet - has forward engine intakes at all? The top and accepted answer ...
mmathis's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
2k views

Can "a drone" damage the wing of "an aeroplane" to the extent it actually threatens its ability to fly?

I stumbled across this video by the University of Dayton, showcasing the amount of damage a certain type of drone can do to a wing, and they wrote a whole article about it. While most of said article ...
User1291's user avatar
  • 201
6 votes
2 answers
3k views

Is it possible for the Boeing 737NG to do a powerback?

I'm curious, in a non-normal situation, where it's not possible to use a pushback tug, would it be POSSIBLE to perform a powerback on the 737NG, assuming the area was reasonably clear of FOD?
MD88Fan's user avatar
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3 votes
1 answer
722 views

Why is the nosewheel of the MiG-29 placed in front of the engine intakes?

Why do MiG-29 have a front-wheel of landing gear placed in front of an intake? would not it throw water or stones into the intake as mentioned in Raymer? I am designing an aircraft based on the ...
Adeel Ahsan's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
446 views

FOD ingestion & engine damage - how does the crew know it happened?

A 737 I was supposed to fly on yesterday was grounded after, per the captain, it ingested a pebble on the taxiway causing damage to a fan blade. My question is: how did they know this happened? (Lucky ...
Foster Boondoggle's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
511 views

How is the radius of the danger zone marking for engine inlets calculated?

Does the radius (shown below) take into account smaller objects (FOD), or only people? How is it determined? Source: Facebook
George Geo's user avatar
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3 votes
3 answers
336 views

How much FOD hazard can a Styrofoam drink cup pose?

So, the Collings Foundation and their touring warbirds were in town recently, and we went to visit them. While out on the ramp though, my father managed to lose one of the Styrofoam coffee/drink cups ...
UnrecognizedFallingObject's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
834 views

Can jet engine ingest (suck in) concrete from runway?

In the question Is there any emergency situation in which jet engines would not be shut down before passenger evacuation of a transport aircraft comment says: At full engine power, those vortices ...
Peter M. - stands for Monica's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
181 views

Is there any recorded instance of a passenger's hat or scarf being blown into an aircraft's engine?

Passengers climbing the stairs into an airliner are often subject to gusts of wind; I've had to hold onto my own scarf in the past. It doesn't seem beyond the bounds of probability that a passenger'...
Daniele Procida's user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
164 views

Which dust size causes most damage to turbine engines?

I'm conducting some research on my bachelor's thesis on predictive maintenance and I have so far not been able to find a solution to the following question: Which size of dust is more damaging to the ...
Martí Prat i Esquerdo's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
482 views

Materials for temporary dent repair?

On a recent commercial flight (A320neo), I noticed some materials attached to the leading edge of a slat (no photo available). The attached material was not smooth, it rather looked like a small ball ...
Andreas's user avatar
  • 147
0 votes
2 answers
607 views

Would an S-92 / CH-148 (or any helicopter) be able to land successfully after rolling over and eating someone with its main rotor in flight?

In the SCP Foundation story "Over/",1 the protagonist and his fiancée get kidnapped by some terrorists looking for information, who eventually throw the two of them out of a CH-148 (with ...
Vikki's user avatar
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