The FOD Control Corporation

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 imp

roved 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.

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/

Is your FOD program audit-ready — or just operationally solid? There's a big difference.When a Part 139 inspector walks ...
06/16/2026

Is your FOD program audit-ready — or just operationally solid? There's a big difference.

When a Part 139 inspector walks in and asks for your documented risk assessment, your named FOD manager, and 90 days of trend data, having good daily habits isn't enough. You need the paperwork to back it up.

The FAA updated AC 150/5210-24A in February 2024, and EASA has formalized FOD control as a regulatory requirement for certified aerodromes. If your program hasn't been reviewed against current standards, there's a good chance gaps are hiding in plain sight.

We put together a practical internal audit framework so you can find those gaps on your own terms — before the auditors find them for you.

Read the full playbook here: https://www.fodcontrol.com/fod-audit-playbook/

Does your Part 139 self-inspection program cover every trigger — or just the daily walkthrough? 🔍Section 139.327 require...
06/09/2026

Does your Part 139 self-inspection program cover every trigger — or just the daily walkthrough? 🔍

Section 139.327 requires more than a daily movement area inspection. Two additional triggers — unusual conditions (construction, severe weather, operational changes) and any runway accident or incident — are equally binding, and they're exactly what FAA auditors look for at certification reviews.

AC 150/5210-24A (the updated 2024 standard) gives certificate holders a clear four-step framework: prevention, detection, removal, evaluation. With $523M in recent federal pavement grants, the funding is there. The mandate has always been there. What separates compliant airports is ex*****on.

Here's what a complete, audit-ready FOD self-inspection program actually looks like: https://www.fodcontrol.com/part-139-fod-requirements-self-inspection-compliance/

What's the most dangerous 20 minutes on a military flightline? It might not be the moment you'd expect. 🔍Shift change — ...
06/02/2026

What's the most dangerous 20 minutes on a military flightline? It might not be the moment you'd expect. 🔍

Shift change — the window between outgoing and incoming crews — is where military FOD programs consistently break down. Tool counts get rushed. Work area ownership goes undefined. Situational awareness hits its daily low. And DAFMAN 91-203's requirements are on the books, but not always in the briefing.

Our latest article breaks down exactly why this gap keeps producing incidents, what failure patterns show up most often, and what a real prevention framework looks like — from structured handover checklists to enforced flightline entry checks to explicit ownership protocols.

If you manage or support a military airfield FOD program, this one's worth the read.

Read more: https://www.fodcontrol.com/fod-flightline-shift-change/

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Dallas, TX
75252

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

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(800) 425-8363

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