delays caused by passengers looking for bags

and moving past aisles obstructed by excess

baggage.
Danger

HERE'S A STORY GOING AROUND about

a lawnmower. Apparently last year a
passenger on a domestic flight made his
way through to the departure lounge carrying a lawnmower which he intended to take
on board as hand baggage.
Fortunately he was stopped by a crew member, but in the meantime he had managed to
take his "parcel" through check-in and X-ray.
Excess carry-on baggage is a major concern
for air crew and is one of the main threats to
cabin safety. Overloaded compartments have
the potential to seriously compromise the
convenience, comfort and safety of passengers and crew.
Excess baggage has implications throughout industry: as a source of stress to passengers and crew, as an extra cost which must be
borne by the airline, as well the emergency
and safety issues which arise from overloaded
compartments.

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

almost certainly be too full. If the attendant

relocates the baggage, it can mean a stressful
beginning to the flight for both parties.
In emergency situations, where cooperation and teamwork are critical, this tension
can seriously add to the confusion and disorder of an evacuation.
Excess baggage is expensive for airlines. On
a B-747, an extra 10kg per passenger can
mean 4,000kg on top of the calculated load.
As well as an overloaded aircraft and increased
fuel costs, the precise weight of the plane will
not be known and take-off performance
could be affected.
Passengers with too much baggage move
slowly and cause delays when boarding and
disembarking. In a 24 hour period the additional turn-around time can be considerable.
Baggage can be extremely dangerous and
even lethal. In an accident, the more baggage
on board, the greater the likelihood of baggage compartments spilling open, and the
greater the chance of injury from flying
objects.
Evacuation times are slowed by baggage
cluttering aisles, and passengers trying to find
their bags before exiting - a surprising phenomenon that has been revealed by test evacuations.

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

Stephanie Dakin is production and research officer

with CASA '5 safety education section.
FLIGHT SAFETY AUSTRALIA AUTUMN 1997 29