In Reply to: Weighing Of Passengers & Hand Luggage posted by MissWooFarkinHoo on Saturday, 27. December 2008 at 11:06 Bali Time:
I'm pleased you got a chuckle from potential tagedy but, from various googles:
"THE TRAGEDY of Delta Connection Flight 5191 in Kentucky ("49 killed in takeoff on wrong runway," Page A1, Aug. 28) is a sad reminder of the crash of Air Midwest Flight 5481 in Charlotte, N.C., on Jan. 8, 2003. None of the 19 passengers or two crew members of the Air Midwest flight survived; two men from the Boston area, Joseph Spiak, my brother-in-law, and Richard Lyons, were on that flight. The crash led to changes in the outsourcing of maintenance and operations and highighted deficiencies in how passenger and cargo weight was counted"
and..
"The pilot at the controls of the aircraft, registered V5 GWH, that crashed on January 11, 24-year-old South African Dani'l Marais, had almost 1 215 hours of flight experience, of which 1 006 hours were on Cessna 210 aircraft.
On the day of the crash he had flown the aircraft from Swakopmund to Eros Airport, where he had to pick up five passengers and fly them to Mokuti Lodge, it is related in the report.
Marais already completed forms to reflect the weight and balance of the aircraft before he had even flown to Windhoek to meet his passengers, it is stated in the report.
His calculation of their combined weight however was between 47 and 78 kilograms lower than what the actual weight was calculated at during the investigation."
and...
By John Goetz, partner in the Pittsburgh, Pa., office of the international law firm Jones Day (his statements do not constitute opinions on behalf of the firm or its clients):
"The May 12 FAA notice, N8300.112, increasing the assumed weight for passengers and checked bags on regional aircraft, could have great significance in civil litigation arising out of an air crash. The particular circumstances of this notice will add to its significance and treatment in the courts, i.e., it was issued following a crash where weight and loading have been called
into question and after the FAA concluded, based on the results of a survey of airlines, that assumed weights of passengers and baggage were too low."
I could go on googling all afternoon on this but I think I have made my point. I was once guilty of concealing excess weight from those who do the maths prior to launching an aircraft but after experiencing a sluggish and lumbering take-off with other passengers who were obviously dragging ridiculous loads into the cabin space and then stowing these heavy weights above my head in the lockers, I have had a change of heart. In fact I don't fly Garuda anymore because they too often turn a blind eye to this practice.
For the sake of saving a few bucks I would rather fly without the anxiety of knowing that an avoidable risk wasn't taken. It's too easy to ship home heavy articles and that's what I do now. It's a very pleasant event when that shipment arrives and I get to relive my holidays.
Air safety should not be taken lightly, so please travel light or 'fess up!