Illegal and improper carriage of chemical oxygen generators on ANZ long haul flight

[deScally]

We'll have to wait for the details to emerge but this sounds like a bit of a worry, especially given it's an ETOPS route.
Air force danger cargo sent on passenger jet - National - NZ Herald News (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10840785)

[Heathrow Cargo]

I'm slightly confused: how did the NZ Air Force put cargo on a passenger flight leaving from Vancouver???

[DownIn3Green]

So a disgruntled employee turned them in??? What' the big deal?

Thr load agent hands me a manifest documenting the cargo...What was on the form this Captain signed...

It happens all the time...this time nothing happened...So what's the purpose of this post?

Sh@t stirrimg,



i.'m sure...

[Semaphore Sam]

Right. There's no real problem here. Unless... think Valujet at 30 West.

[deltahotel]

Wouldn't ANZ have a non CAO dangerous goods licence?

[Tinribs]

The purpose of safety management is to discover events and risks so manageing them to reduce the chances of adverse outcome

Most rules in aviation are imposed as the result of adverse experience and so to disregard them enhances the risk they are designed to negate

Investigating events which seem to reveal a breach or rules is a valuable way to discover if the rules are wrong, outdated or an excessive constriction on trade. If the rule is not one of these it should be obeyed. If the rule is one of these it should be obeyed pending ammendment.

Risk management clearly shows we get a large number of warnings before an event becomes critical, ignoring the event series hastens that critical moment and usually makes the outcome inexcusable

[sb_sfo]

I'm slightly confused: how did the NZ Air Force put cargo on a passenger flight leaving from Vancouver???

Me too. Possibly NZAF got some replacement O2 generators from Boeing (near YVR) and shipped them by air? The legal alternative would have them going by surface transport, which might take weeks? I don't have a ton of DG experience, but I don't think you can get an exemption to carry those by air. I'll have to take a look at my DG manual later today.

[Smudger]

Not being able to get my hands on a Dangerous Goods manual, as far as I am aware ICAO rules state that time-expired chemical oxygen generators are prohibited from carriage and MUST be transported by surface means, as a direct result of the ValuJet disaster. However, if they were new and being transported for fitment to aircraft at base then perhaps it is allowed as long as they were packaged in the permitted containers and amounts specified by ICAO. Possibly they can be carried in cargo-only aircraft. I stress I'm not sure as I do not have the manual to hand.

[sb_sfo]

On coming across Ben Sandiland's article NZ air force outed for loading oxy cyclinders into Air NZ jet | Plane Talking (http://blogs.crikey.com.au/planetalking/2012/10/16/nz-air-force-outed-for-loading-oxy-cyclinders-into-air-nz-jet/) I see they were going TO YVR.
Makes less sense now.

[Best foot forward]

http://www.phmsa.dot.gov/staticfiles/PHMSA/DownloadableFiles/Don'tshippsu_pbe_eebd_contaSA7.pdf

[sb_sfo]

Forbidden on passenger aircraft. May be carried on cargo aircraft max 25kg/pkg.

[Smudger]

sb sfo : thank you, I thought as much.

[Heathrow Cargo]

Were they Oxygen Cylinders or Generators....completely different rules.

[DaveReidUK]

Definitely OBOGS canisters, according to the original NZ Herald article.

http://media.nzherald.co.nz/webcontent/image/jpg/201242/460.jpg

[Heathrow Cargo]

I'd like to see the official report, there are conflicting stories about YVR-AKL or AKL-YVR and the Herald may have found a generator picture somewhere to link the story to The Everglades.

Who knows and this may be a serious incident or just be a document discrepancy, probably best wait for the real story before speculating.

[DaveReidUK]

Who knows and this may be a serious incident or just be a document discrepancy, probably best wait for the real story before speculating.

Unlikely to be put into the public domain as it's an RNZAF internal report.

[deScally]

No prosecution over dangerous cargo - National - NZ Herald News (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10842590)

[Tinribs]

There may be some confusion here

OBOGS. On Board Oxygen Generation, used to refer to a highly tuned system that isolated oxygen within the airmix by filtration for use on board. It was especially good for military aircraft as it avoided carrying large heavy cylinders and shortened rapid turnround time

On the other hand I could be out of date

[DaveReidUK]

There may be some confusion here

OBOGS. On Board Oxygen Generation, used to refer to a highly tuned system that isolated oxygen within the airmix by filtration for use on board. It was especially good for military aircraft as it avoided carrying large heavy cylinders and shortened rapid turnround time

On the other hand I could be out of date

You're not.

[chimbu warrior]

Possibly the wider issue here is the terminology used by the shipper.

In the Valujet accident, the shipper had described them as oxygen "canisters", rather than "generators". Additionally, the term "expired" (or words to that effect) were used to describe the shipment. This led to the assumption that they were not DG.

When we do DG training, we all learn about the responsibilities of shippers and acceptance staff, but the reality is that shipments are frequently packed/delivered/consigned by people who are acting on the instructions of the shipper. The appropriately trained people are simply too few to follow the packing/delivery/consignment process of every package, and therefore they delegate (some would suggest abrogate) their responsibility. It is therefore an unfortunate fact that many items travel by air every day that have the potential to cause harm.

I am frequently uncomfortable about carrying freight for these very reasons, but it is the crews that carry freight exclusively (freight dogs) that are at greatest risk here.

My only suggestion is that whilst you are walking around the aircraft, take a look at what is being loaded. If something looks like it shouldn't be there, ask questions. If you see something, say something.

[Wunwing]

When I was an FE on B707s I regularly spotted cargo that should not be loaded.My tally included live ammo and nuclear items stacked on top of each other in the rear hold (government charter), full LP gas bottles ( for a balloon) which were labeled empty but weren't and lead acid batteries loaded unpacked and loose.

Now I know all that was a long time ago but I often wondered what was in those cans as they were loaded in front of me when I went to the B747. The items that I continued to reject from the bulk hold of the B747 didn't inspire me with confidence on that matter.As a result if I had time I always inspected the bulk hold on my preflight.

Now in the era of 2 person crews and rapid turnarounds I suppose this risk is seen as just another item to be ignored along with all the other lessons learnt the hard way since Oscar and Wilbur got going.

[gleneagles]

One of the reasons a good friend of mine and I quit Korean Airlines was due to the fact that it was one of the few air freight airlines which accept dodgy cargo consignments rejected by other more prudent carriers. Looks like ANZ had done worse by carrying such DG in a passenger plane. At least Korean had a policy of carrying them in dedicated cargo planes only.