FAA Tests UK Runway Safety Device

TF Green Airport in Warwick, Rhode Island, is the first commercial airport in the United States to install and operate Tarsier Foreign Object Debris (FOD) technology. Developed by the UK’s QinetiQ, the system is currently being tested and evaluated there by the University of Illinois Center of Excellence in Airport Technology (CEAT) on behalf of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Checking for runway debris is currently performed manually with visual inspections several times a day. The new, fully automated system provides continuous scanning of the runway area and alerts airport operations specialists about foreign objects that are detected. Workers recover and keep a record of all debris that is recovered. Mark Brewer, president and CEO of the Rhode Island Airport Corporation (RIAC) that operates the airport said “tools such as QinetiQ’s FOD system improve the way we operate and help improve the safety conditions of air travel.” The FAA has initiated a program to evaluate the performance of FOD detection systems at commercial airports. Studies are being conducted by the FAA's William A. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City, N.J. as part of the Airport Safety Management Program in partnership with the CEAT. “FOD has been identified as a major problem for the aerospace industry with cost estimates ranging up to $4 billion per year globally,” said Professor Edwin Herricks, director of the CEAT. The performance evaluation program at TF Green Airport began in June and will continue until next spring. Upon completion it is expected that the FAA will publish an Advisory Circular that will assist airports in safety management activities related to FOD. Two Tarsier radar units are in place at TF Green Airport’s North-South runway for the six-month long performance assessment that will test the FOD system in a variety of weather and lighting conditions, including wind, rain, snow and darkness. These units are housed in towers that resemble small lighthouse beacons. A display unit (a high tech computer) in the airport’s operations center provides a visual image of the runway and radar imagery. Upon detection of FOD, an alarm sounds and airport staff proceed to the area in question, performing a visual inspection and recovery. QinetiQ’s Tarsier system is presently in use at Vancouver International Airport and is being installed at Dubai International Airport. Phil McLachlan, managing director of QinetiQ Airport Technologies, said “The FAA evaluation at TF Green is hugely important to us as not only is it our first installation in the US, but also a chance to demonstrate to the FAA that fully automated runway FOD inspections are now possible.”