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Volunteers comb runway for trash
They collect loose debris that could cause thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to aircraft.
By Jason Wells
BURBANK — Passengers and crew aboard the 9:30 a.m. Southwest flight came upon an unusual sight Tuesday as they landed at Bob Hope Airport: dozens of people in bright yellow T-shirts walking down the middle of Runway 826.
They were searching for “foreign object debris,” otherwise known as trash — a potentially costly pest when sucked into jet engines.
A plastic bag, screw, loose pebble or stick can cause hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to aircraft engines or tires.
As part of an airport-wide public awareness campaign, officials organized the first trash pick-up Tuesday to highlight the pitfalls of leaving the seemingly harmless objects alone.
For about two hours, air traffic was diverted to alternate Runway 1533 as 62 airport employees volunteered their time to scour the pavement for even the smallest bit of anything not attached to the road.
Keenly aware that it was no ordinary trash pick-up, many volunteers said they jumped at the sign-up sheets two weeks ago.
Escorted by airport police and fire vehicles, volunteers waved and gawked as jet airplanes landed on the cross Runway 1533 just meters ahead.
“It’s a walkway today, but if a plane comes, it’s going to be a runway,” Connie James, an inspector for the Transportation Security Administration, said as her plastic trash bag billowed in the wind.
She was referring to the nervous excitement shared by many volunteers as they strolled down the middle of the airport’s busiest runway.
“I’m more excited than nervous,” said Becky Mudge, a 12-year employee at the Burbank-Glendale- Pasadena Airport Authority.
As the volunteers gathered at the far end of the runway, they were met with a mile-long expanse of flat pavement, several news helicopters hovering overhead and police escorts.
Organizers said they scheduled the event for Veterans Day to commemorate the airport’s wartime history.
Lockheed Martin manufactured about 10,000 P38 fighter planes at the site for World War I, airport spokeswoman Lucy Burghdorf said.
But for the volunteers — who hailed from the airport’s airlines, service vendors and government agencies — the event was clearly about setting foot where few had done so before.
“I just wanted to be out here because you’re not supposed to be out here,” said Cavonne Sears, an employee for Atlantic Aviation.
Burghdorf acknowledged that a big part of the event was to build camaraderie among volunteers, who on Tuesday found themselves competing to grab even the smallest of the potentially hazardous “foreign object debris.”
A loose pebble here, a small piece of paper there — finds on the runway were few and far between.
At the end of the trash pick-up, the clear plastic bags had little to show for the mile-long trek as the volunteers filed back into the bus shuttles for a return trip to the main terminal at Bob Hope Airport.
“It just means we do a good job all the time,” James said.
They were searching for “foreign object debris,” otherwise known as trash — a potentially costly pest when sucked into jet engines.
A plastic bag, screw, loose pebble or stick can cause hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of damage to aircraft engines or tires.
As part of an airport-wide public awareness campaign, officials organized the first trash pick-up Tuesday to highlight the pitfalls of leaving the seemingly harmless objects alone.
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Keenly aware that it was no ordinary trash pick-up, many volunteers said they jumped at the sign-up sheets two weeks ago.
Escorted by airport police and fire vehicles, volunteers waved and gawked as jet airplanes landed on the cross Runway 1533 just meters ahead.
“It’s a walkway today, but if a plane comes, it’s going to be a runway,” Connie James, an inspector for the Transportation Security Administration, said as her plastic trash bag billowed in the wind.
She was referring to the nervous excitement shared by many volunteers as they strolled down the middle of the airport’s busiest runway.
“I’m more excited than nervous,” said Becky Mudge, a 12-year employee at the Burbank-Glendale- Pasadena Airport Authority.
As the volunteers gathered at the far end of the runway, they were met with a mile-long expanse of flat pavement, several news helicopters hovering overhead and police escorts.
Organizers said they scheduled the event for Veterans Day to commemorate the airport’s wartime history.
Lockheed Martin manufactured about 10,000 P38 fighter planes at the site for World War I, airport spokeswoman Lucy Burghdorf said.
But for the volunteers — who hailed from the airport’s airlines, service vendors and government agencies — the event was clearly about setting foot where few had done so before.
“I just wanted to be out here because you’re not supposed to be out here,” said Cavonne Sears, an employee for Atlantic Aviation.
Burghdorf acknowledged that a big part of the event was to build camaraderie among volunteers, who on Tuesday found themselves competing to grab even the smallest of the potentially hazardous “foreign object debris.”
A loose pebble here, a small piece of paper there — finds on the runway were few and far between.
At the end of the trash pick-up, the clear plastic bags had little to show for the mile-long trek as the volunteers filed back into the bus shuttles for a return trip to the main terminal at Bob Hope Airport.
“It just means we do a good job all the time,” James said.
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