undeclared HAZMAT

[corsair303]

im doing a paper for one of my safety classes on the threat of undeclared hazardous materials being let into the cargo hold. trying to get a perspective from some pilots out there that have to deal with this stuff.
how well informed are yoiu guys on whats getting on the plane, or have you had any problems with this in the past?

[Capt. Horatio Slappy !!]

Hello,
I fly contract freight for a major freight company in U.S.
Hazmat training takes place every 12 months and includes such things as appropriate packaging/labeling, authorized and banned items and emergency response. We carry most categories: etiological, explosive, flamms, blood, sperm, magnetics, radioactives etc.
The civil penalties for shipping undeclared Hazmat are severe, unfortunately this and a sharp eye are the only preventative controls currently in place, both at the shipping counter and at the belt-loader just prior to loading. Now I am talking from a Freight-Dog perspective, we only have a Haz declaration form and the above description to tell us what's aboard, when I used to fly for a commuter, random checked luggage x-rays and verbal declaration was all we got unless someone was legally shipping Haz, a good example might be ORM's ( Other Regulated Material ) Authorised on Pax planes, Small arms ammo, perfumes etc Also regular Haz such as batteries etc If these Items were aboard we were issued with a Haz declaration form and the Ramp agent verbally requested authorisation to load these materials.
That's all I can think of for now, If you want more detail, drop me an e-mail.
Marc.

[Intruder]

Repeated discoveries of undeclared hazmat after packages broke/leaked have caused several passenger carriers to refuse all hazmat. Even cargo carriers deal with undeclared hazmat on a regular basis -- MUCH more often than we like to. I suspect there is some on most flights, but it's buried too far in the packages to find...