On 02 Nov 2007 17:57:55 GMT, Fujikawa Yamamoto <amm-j@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote in <Xns99DC6F8BA4FB5789FAED@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>:
>As Americans have grown heftier, 1960s-era assumptions regarding
>passenger weight have become a concern to the aviation industry. In
>2004, a turboprop of a Canadian commuter airline crashed into Lake Erie,
>killing all 10 aboard. According to the standard air passenger weight
>tables used in the United States and Canada, the average weight of the
>10 people aboard was 183 pounds -- the tables assume an average adult
>male weight of 189 pounds and average adult female weight of 141 pounds.
>Investigation showed the average actual weight of the people on the
>plane was 240 pounds. That's 570 pounds unaccounted for in a plane with
>a max takeoff weight of 8,000 pounds, and 7 percent missing from the
>pilot's load and wind calculations are enough to upset a light aircraft.
>The smaller the aircraft, the higher the passengers' and bags' weight as
>a percentage of aircraft mass. For the cute little Eclipse 500, whose
>max takeoff weight is 5,995 pounds, the passengers, pilots and baggage
>easily could be 20 percent of aircraft weight, which is why the FAA
>mandated use of passengers' actual weights.
Weight and balance of aircraft is essential. It is often achieved by
flying with empty seats or offloading fuel.
It would only seem prudent for the air carrier to surcharge passengers
for the ****tion their total load that exceeds the FAA specification.
If passengers are sensitive about revealing their weight to flight
personnel, they should either purchase enough additional seats so that
there is no question of overloading, or suggest an reasonable
alternative means of assuring their flight is conducted within the
aircraft's performance envelope.
|
