Cargorat,
As Capt Sensible says the responsibilty is with the Capt. Not the agent not even the L/M - the Capt!!
Yes I have had problems with the Dangerous Goods act as an engineer.
Try getting a slide pack or liferaft, or even a lifejacket to an AOG !
As a matter of interest I was involved with shipping some oxy generators just after the Valujet thing. Again I requested the units but they were shipped via an "agent"
They were put on a flight and when they arrived all hell broke loose. Everybody and his dog (including moi!) was hauled into investigations by the FAA.
The crux of the story that there is no official way to make these emergency notifications after an incident like Value jet. It was done by the FAA to Airlines but as far as the cargo agent was concerned the IATA carriage of dangerous goods legislation allowed carriage of up to three units on a passenger aircraft !
We were just told don't do it again !!!
Again as a side line the O2 generators carried on the Valuejet aircraft are from DC10 which are mechanicaly triggered with a strike plunger and can be activated by hitting them - the L1011 generators are electrically ignited and can only be triggered by a current.
As an L/M you might take a look at the IATA manual and see if there is a new definition they were originally just classifed as chloric chemical devices (You have to be a smart "agent " to know that is an Oxygen generator !!)
[This message has been edited by GotTheTshirt (edited 05 May 2001).]