20L jerry of avgas on the back seat

[Sam Rutherford]

Legal if a private flight, or illegal in any and all cases because it's hazardous/inflammable etc.?

Clearly it's dangerous, a bad idea, etc. etc., but is it actually illegal?

Cheers, Sam.

[Jan Olieslagers]

May be legal as long as all goes well. As soon as things go wrong, some insurer will remind you of the fine print insisting on good airmanship, taking all measures required for safety, acting in good faith &c &c and obviously letting 20 litres of gas loose in the cabin/cockpit doesn't match any of those.

But if you are searching for a law, forbidding verbatim "the carriage of a canister with a 20 litre capacity, holding combustibles of the petroleum type, on the back seats of any aeroplane" you might have to search for a long while.

[SNS3Guppy]

Sam,

In a former life, I used to ferry a lot of gasoline to remote locations in jerry cans; we used both plastic and metal cans. We placed them underground and used them as refuel sources for a fleet of Single Cessnas. I carried them in 172's and 206's and 207's.

If you're going to carry fuel, it should be bonded to the airframe, and it should be kept secure. Use caution about building up vapors anywhere that a spark could occur. Remember that sparks occur via static electricity, which occurs naturally in the airframe (especially if bonding between static strips and the airframe isn't good) in flight, as well as on carpet or with movement of the fluid in the can. This can be especially true in synthetic fuel containers.

If you do carry fuel inside the aircraft, bear in mind the hazard it may pose to you as a missile and a source of fire in the event of a forced landing, and be mindful of that fuel any time the temperature rises inside the airplane. A riing temperature means increased fuel vapor. Keep fuel cans full. Empty containers are more dangerous than full containers. An empty container, especially on a seat or on carpet, without any bonding to the aircraft structure, can be a real threat.

Before you carry that fuel, ask yourself if you have any other choice.

[172driver]

Sam, knowing where you tend to operate this may be of interest: illegal in Namibia, BIG no-no there!

[BillieBob]

ICAO Doc 9248 - 2011 Technical Instructions for the Safe Transport of Dangerous Goods by Air. In the UK, at least, adherence to these instructions is mandated by the ANO Article 132 and The Air Navigation (Dangerous Goods) Regulations 2002. Outside the UK - who knows?

[IO540]

Is that applicable to private flights?

I don't think there is any restriction on what you can carry in a private plane, in the way of solvents or other chemicals.

[FlyingKiwi_73]

Is this also true for Oil, i know plenty of chaps who carry around spare oil (can be hard to source in some places).

Most are bungied to the airframe,.. some not so much.

No vapours as such but can be a missile and certainly flammable

[Rod1]

I think a W/S micro pilot was pulled up for doing this. In the end it was decided it was ok as the fuel was for use in the aircraft.

Rod1

[hambleoldboy]

I fly often in France visiting remote strips, so take a good supply of Mogas with me. Last year I was met at my customs entrance airfield in SE France by the rummage squad. The maximum volume one can import, even if foreign duty paid is 5 litres. I was fined 50 euros and also charged the French fuel duty on the amount exceeding the 5 litre allowance.

[BillieBob]

Is that applicable to private flights?

There is no indication, either in the ANO or in the Air Navigation (Dangerous Goods) Regulations that they apply only to commercial flights. Article 4 of the Dangerous Goods Regulations states:

An aircraft shall not carry or have loaded onto it any dangerous goods unless;....

This would seem to indicate that the Regulations apply to any aircraft, irrespective of how it is operated.

[Tigger_Too]

I (and many others) have ferried a light single (Mooney most recently) with a long range tank taking the place of the aft seats. Much more than 20 litres, and I can promise you that a jerry can is a lot more robust than the ferry tank.

That said, of course it was properly installed (though not bonded, I think). So in normal circumstances I would support the view that carrying a jerry can is not the best of ideas if it is not absolutely necessary.

(But then again I can also tell some stories about flying with my feet resting on a can of AVPINIsopropyl nitrate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[LH2]

Originally Posted by hambleoldboy

The maximum volume one can import, even if foreign duty paid is 5 litres. I was fined 50 euros and also charged the French fuel duty on the amount exceeding the 5 litre allowance.

Was this flying in from the UK/Ireland? If so, I'm afraid you've been had on two counts: 1) They acted contrary to the stipulations of art. 24 of the Chicago Convention 1944[*], and 2) the whole point of the sodding EU is that it's a single market, therefore no customs--even if as non-Schengen signatories, travelling to/from the UK one must clear immigration (not customs!). Any form of tax on an article brought in from another EU country is illegal and you should refuse to pay it. If you were flying in ex-EU point 2 does not necessarily apply, but point 1 still does unless you came from a non-ICAO country.

I note that the French are rather notorious for ignoring the law in this aspect. In 2010 they've been copping daily fines for this, particularly regarding their illegal "border controls" at the Spanish border.

[*] Learned that for my JAR ATPL Air Law exam, least it be said they're full of useless knowledge.