Bitmonx
23rd Jun 2007, 18:52
I will be needing to transport a acetylene gas bottle by helicopter. there will be no person but myself on board. According to the Dangerous goods book, any flight with Acetylene except in a dissolved state is prohibited on board A/C. Someone told me that it is allowed under the clean air regulations? What is that and can someone tell me where to find it?
Thanks
42ongo
23rd Jun 2007, 20:17
Good day
I d be surprised if any clean air act over-ruled what is in the DG book
as you say acetylene is forbidden unless in dissolved state or it could move under a special provision
I d contact one of the specialist DG companies to be on the safe side
good luck
Pilot DAR
27th Jun 2007, 03:01
Bitmonx,
If there is no other occupant of the aircraft, I can't imagine who would complain about carrying acetylene. I would think that the prohibition in the dangerous goods regulations would be there to prevent people other than the sole pilot in command carrying such goods. I once met a pilot flying a Beech Baron carrying 1000 pounds of some kind of nasty explosives. Sounds fine to me, as long as he has chosen to accept the risk, and stays away from built up areas.
This is one of those situations where if you ask the regulator for permission, they have to find a reason to say "no". If you mitigate all the risks, and carry nobody else, you've done your due diligence, they'd probaby rather not get involved, and just leave you alone as long as nobody complains.
Do SAR a favour though, and include a reference to compressed flammable gases on your flight plan, so if they do end up looking for you, and approaching the machine, they know to beware. This came up in the investigation of a crash of an aircraft with which I was involved. The SAR guys saw laser radiation stickers on probes I had made, which were thrown from the plane on impact. They were very concerned about radiation hazard. I explained that with the main part of the plane completely burned, and the lasers completely disconnected form a completely destroyed electrical system, they could hardly be energized and hazardous. They had a point though about the possiblity of an unexpected hazard in the rescue environment.
Shhhh, Fly safe!
Pilot DAR
RatherBeFlying
29th Jun 2007, 01:39
Wikipedia article on Acetylene (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acetylene)
It seems a major transportation requirement is that the cylinders be stored and carried upright. It also seems most acetylene cylinders dissolve the gas in acetone.
I would most definitely want to review the DG manual before taking this stuff aboard.