Professional Documents
Culture Documents
If bags are too heavy, bins will either be overloaded or will at least have uneven weight distribution.
The result is pressure on crew to check and
organise cabin baggage, and find suitable
arrangements if required.
When an overloaded passenger boards an
aircraft, one of two things will happen. If the
crew member does nothing, the bin will
In an age where the survivability rate of accidents is at an all time high, excess baggage has
the potential to considerably increase the
number of fatalities.
For example, in the June '96 crash of the
Garuda DC- 10 at Fukuoka Airport, Japan, 99
of the 275 on board were injured by baggage.
Also, in the first class section overhead lockers were found to have fallen open on impact.
Luckily there were no passengers in this zone,
but had the baggage compartments been
overloaded, it is quite possible that not all
would have survived an otherwise survivable
accident.
The FAA is currently investigating the
design structure and integrity of overhead
baggage compartments.
Baggage weight and stowage problems
affect industry at all levels. It follows that the
solution must target all involved, and must
consist of standards which can be applied
nationwide. Tackling the problem, however,
is complicated, largely because enforceability
is difficult.
Ensuring that compartments and aircraft
are not overloaded is currently the responsibility of the airlines, since "overloaded" is
defined both for an aircraft and for a baggage
locker in manufacturer's specifications.
As a result of the urgent need to discuss the
problems and make changes, CASA, as part of
its regulatory framework review, has established
a project team to investigate cabin safety.
The focus of the team is twofold. Firstly, to
introduce changes to the regulations which
will make it clear where the responsibility lies
in regard to checking and possibly weighing
bags.
Once the chain of responsibility is established, a means of enforcement will be formulated.
The Canadian regulator has made the validity of a carrier's Air Operators Certificate
(Aoc) dependant on strict compliance with
carry-on baggage regulations.
Tougher enforcement of the rules and
greater awareness at all levels are the first steps
to eliminating excess baggage on each and
every flight.
Staff at all stages of passenger check-in and
boarding should be aware of what constitutes
excess baggage, and play their part in ensuring
that excess baggage is minimised.
The times estimated for evacuation by certification criteria do not allow for the extra