What a spectacle! This weekend brought to the F-M area one of the premier precision aviation organizations in the world ... the Canadian Snowbirds! The weather was beyond reproach; a perfect AirSho day was enjoyed by everyone who attended.
The effort and long hours that was used by the AirSho Committee, the volunteers and the performers was very evident in the quality of programming, and of course, the various food and souvenir vendors helped top off the experience (especially the KC Burgers ... they were delicious)!
The spectacle that I refer to, however, is the one where hundreds of people left a huge selection of empty beer, pop and water bottles laying on the ground as they left the AirSho viewing area. Hamburger wrappers, napkins and programs, among other garbage, was left for others to clean up.
The Airport Authority and other regulating agencies were generous enough to open the facility up to the public for this wonderful event, only to have it fouled by certain discourteous and disrespectful behavior. Every bit of this mess had to be picked up by someone ... it poses a hazard to safe aviation.
Airports are regularly "swept" clear of debris that can be drawn into airplane engines, damaging them.
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This is known as "FOD" for Foreign Object Damage. It could be your bottle cap, bottle or old program that gets sucked into an engine, causing at least very expensive repair, and travel delay, or at worst, engine failure upon take off leading to a crash!
The lesson here is simple, folks ... you bought it, you consumed it, YOU DISPOSE OF IT!
Ronald B. Ragan
Davenport, N.D.
