FOD walk proactively protects aircraft

At right, Master Sgt. Bo Wilcox, C-40 plane maintainer from the 932nd Airlift Wing, 932nd Maintenance Squadron, moves toward the back of an aircraft while other Airmen walk the area looking for any small items on the ground that don't belong. All successful 932nd Airlift Wing C-40C mission launches start days earlier with mission planning and aircraft preparation. Another area behind the scenes that's important is keeping the ramps and parking spots clean and ready to launch missions. Here, a team of maintenance and operations Airmen search the flight line for FOD (Foreign Object Damage) items Jan. 18, 2018, at Scott Air Force Base, Ill.. Time spent getting hands on the ramps during these "FOD walks" protects tires and engines of all incoming and outgoing aircraft. This is done by manually ensuring debris such as ice, trash, blowing leaves, and small rocks or twigs, some dropped by birds flying over, are removed from the flight line. Sometimes a sweeper machine is also called in to assist such as after an ice storm. (U.S. Air Force photo by Lt. Col. Stan Paregien)