The FOD Control Corporation

Call Directions Website

The FOD Control Corporation Military-tested. Race-approved. Airport-ready. If it moves, we keep it clear.

🧹 Gear built to sweep and last. Learn more about it.

Since its inception in 1983, The FOD Control Corporation has emerged as a leading technology enterprise offering specialized and advanced FOD prevention services and products for military and civilian aviation organizations, manufacturing environments, and industrial facilities. Gary Chaplain, our founder, initiated the business venture in response to US Air Force’s growing demand to devise an improved system addressing the removal of debris from their air station travel surfaces. Research and experimentation led to first major breakthrough in countering FOD risks: Power Bar Magnetic Sweeper. The vehicle-mounted towable magnets, backed up with a lifetime warranty on magnetic field strength, guarantee highly effective ferrous and metallic waste removal from runways and taxiways. Continuing the active engagement with military and civilian clients, The FOD Control Corporation’s team of engineers has earned a reputation for coming up with solutions and products specifically tailored to ensure safety of industrial operations. As a result, a whole line of industrial-strength power sweepers (FODBUSTER Rocksweepers), which greatly reduce FOD related risks and accidents, have been developed. The main goal behind this development was to effectively clean metallic and nonmetallic debris from recessed areas, tight spaces, cracks, and pavement joints; leading to a significant reduction in high costs, the aviation industry incurred; according to some reports, FOD causes up $13 billion in direct and indirect costs each year. With an initiative to create a safe environment for all the passengers and to develop efficient FOD prevention plans, the company conducts training and closely works with the aerospace industry in designing efficient FOD prevention programs. In 2004, “MAKE IT FOD FREE, The Ultimate FOD Prevention Program Manual” was published. The publication marked a new era in the company’s commitment to promote and create awareness regarding better safety measures and FOD prevention. In 2014, under the new General Manager, Garth Hughes, the company launched an innovative web based platform (http://fodprogram.com) that allow for cost effective development and management of FOD Prevention Programs to facilities of all types, sizes, and locations around the world.

Even Airbus finds stray tools sometimes. 🔧This summer, inspectors found a tool inside an A330 tail plane during a routin...
10/13/2026

Even Airbus finds stray tools sometimes. 🔧

This summer, inspectors found a tool inside an A330 tail plane during a routine pre-delivery check — leading Airbus to pause deliveries and ask operators of roughly 160 in-service aircraft to inspect their own fleets.

It's not a knock on Airbus. It's proof that FOD can slip past even the most advanced manufacturer on earth — which is exactly why a disciplined 5S system matters more than skill alone.

Our latest article breaks down how Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain work together to catch what a single inspection might miss, and why accountability — not just a framework — is what makes it stick.

Read more: https://www.fodcontrol.com/even-airbus-stray-tools-5s-fod-prevention/

Your FOD program passed its last audit. So why did you still have an incident report last quarter? 🔍Audits check paperwo...
09/29/2026

Your FOD program passed its last audit. So why did you still have an incident report last quarter? 🔍

Audits check paperwork — training records, tool inventories, binders — and confirm a program exists. They rarely catch what happens at 0500 during a shift change, when sweeps get deferred to "the next crew" and tool counts get eyeballed instead of counted.

Our new article breaks down where military FOD compliance audits miss real flightline risk, and what an honest pre-audit self-assessment actually looks like before an inspector finds the gap for you. It's a practical look at the gaps between "compliant on paper" and "safe on the ramp," written for maintenance officers and safety leads who want more than a passing grade.

Read more: https://www.fodcontrol.com/military-fod-compliance-audit/

Ever wonder what a single piece of runway debris actually costs an airport? 🔍The repair bill is just the start. A ground...
09/15/2026

Ever wonder what a single piece of runway debris actually costs an airport? 🔍

The repair bill is just the start. A grounded aircraft can cost $10,000 to $150,000 an hour in downtime alone — and that's before delays, passenger compensation, insurance premium increases, and hours of investigation paperwork stack up. Add a runway or apron closure for inspection, and the lost throughput compounds even further.

Our latest article breaks down where the real money disappears after a FOD incident, and why prevention consistently costs less than a single serious event — for airports, and for any facility running expensive equipment on a shared surface.

Read more: https://www.fodcontrol.com/?p=16747

Think most FOD blows in from the runway? Think again. 🛫On July 14, a ground service vehicle struck an Airbus A320's engi...
09/01/2026

Think most FOD blows in from the runway? Think again. 🛫

On July 14, a ground service vehicle struck an Airbus A320's engine nacelle during a routine turnaround in Lagos — grounding the jet on the spot. It's a sharp example of where FOD really comes from: the ramp, not the runway.

Broken luggage hardware, torn shrink-wrap, dropped tools — it's all generated during normal ground handling. The FAA says so. IATA puts the cost at $4.5 billion a year in ground damage alone.

Our latest article breaks down the culture, cadence, and removal routine that actually stops it.

Read more: https://www.fodcontrol.com/born-on-the-ramp-ground-handling-fod/

Where does construction debris actually cross onto a runway, flight line, or racetrack? 🔍It's almost never inside the fe...
08/18/2026

Where does construction debris actually cross onto a runway, flight line, or racetrack? 🔍

It's almost never inside the fenced-off work zone. It's the transition zone — the edge where staging areas, trenches, and barrier projects meet a live operating surface. Wind carries loose aggregate. Tires track gravel. A dropped bolt rolls past the barricade line.

Our latest article breaks down why construction FOD is a permanent operational challenge (not a seasonal one) across airfields, military bases, and motorsport circuits — plus the four-stage protocol operators actually use to contain it, stage it, and verify it's gone before reopening a surface.

Read more: https://www.fodcontrol.com/construction-fod-prevention-active-work-zones/

What does one burst tire really cost? 🔍At France’s Nantes Atlantique Airport this July, a single tire blowout triggered ...
08/04/2026

What does one burst tire really cost? 🔍

At France’s Nantes Atlantique Airport this July, a single tire blowout triggered an engine shutdown, a four-hour runway closure, a fuel emergency diversion, and eleven cancelled flights. One tire. One chain reaction.

Here's the part most operations teams miss: this isn't an aviation problem. The same chain reaction plays out at race circuits and military flight lines every time a tire fails on a debris-contaminated surface.

Debris causes blowouts. Blowouts create more debris. The loop keeps closing — until someone breaks it with a scheduled sweeping program.

We broke down exactly how the blowout chain reaction works, why tires let go, and what operations teams in every vertical can do before the next incident.

Read more: https://www.fodcontrol.com/tire-blowout-fod-chain-reaction/

🌡️ Ever notice how much hotter a paved surface gets than the air above it? When it's 88°F out, that asphalt can be pushi...
07/21/2026

🌡️ Ever notice how much hotter a paved surface gets than the air above it? When it's 88°F out, that asphalt can be pushing 140°F — and 2026 is shaping up to be one of the hottest years on record.

That heat quietly breaks pavement down: softened asphalt, spalling concrete joints, loose aggregate. On a runway, a racetrack, a flight line, or a plant yard, all of that becomes FOD you didn't plan for — and it shows up between inspections.

The fix isn't dramatic. Inspect a little more often during heat waves, watch your high-stress zones, and keep removal capability ready to go.

Read more: https://www.fodcontrol.com/extreme-heat-pavement-fod/

Can an algorithm pick up a bolt from a taxiway? 🔍The FAA is now using Palantir's Foundry AI to identify runway safety ho...
07/14/2026

Can an algorithm pick up a bolt from a taxiway? 🔍

The FAA is now using Palantir's Foundry AI to identify runway safety hot spots — 453 of them across 150+ U.S. airports. In April 2026, that analysis triggered a permanent operational change at SFO. It's a genuine leap forward for runway safety technology.

But AI maps the risk. Your ground crew removes it.

Our latest article breaks down what the FAA-Palantir partnership actually does, where it stops short, and why a consistent sweep program is the missing piece that makes these AI safety tools smarter over time. If you manage ground operations at an airport, this one's worth a read.

Read more: https://www.fodcontrol.com/faa-ai-runway-safety-fod-program/

Two hundred and fifty years in — and the American spirit of building something better is alive and well. 🇺🇸We see it eve...
06/30/2026

Two hundred and fifty years in — and the American spirit of building something better is alive and well. 🇺🇸

We see it every day in the crews walking runways before sunrise, the flight-line maintainers keeping squadrons mission-ready, the motorsport teams chasing every tenth of a second, and the aerospace innovators building what comes next. And this year, on America's 250th birthday, they deserve a real thank you.

This Independence Day, we wrote a tribute to all of them — and to 250 more years of the kind of ambition that refuses to stand still.

Read the full story: https://www.fodcontrol.com/america-250-independence-day-tribute-american-innovation/

Happy 4th from everyone at FOD Control. 🎆

"We sweep every morning" is a good habit — but the best facilities turn it into a program. 🔍The premier series set the b...
06/23/2026

"We sweep every morning" is a good habit — but the best facilities turn it into a program. 🔍

The premier series set the bar: FIA and NASCAR back documented FOD prevention with signed inspections, logged sweeper runs, and trend data. Aviation cracked this decades ago with a four-pillar framework (Prevention, Detection, Removal, Evaluation) that maps directly onto motorsport.

Here's the part worth stressing: you don't need a major audit on your calendar for any of this to matter. Whether you run a regional track, a club circuit, or a street course, adopting aviation-grade discipline is simply what striving for the highest standard looks like.

We break down how any track operator can put the model to work.

Read more: https://www.fodcontrol.com/what-motorsport-facilities-can-learn-from-aviation-fod-programs/

Address

Dallas, TX
75252

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

(800) 425-8363

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when The FOD Control Corporation posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share