FAA asks airlines to weigh some passengers and bags WASHINGTON (AP) =97 The Federal Aviation Administration will ask airlines to= =20 weigh some passengers and bags before they board 19-seat planes to find out= =20 whether current weight estimates are appropriate. Investigators are=20 exploring the possibility that too much weight contributed to the Jan. 8=20 crash of a 19-seat Beech 1900 turboprop that killed 21 people in North=20 Carolina. Debby McElroy, president of the Regional Airlines Association,=20 which is working with the FAA, told The Associated Press airlines are=20 being asked to weigh passengers and bags once within a month at about a=20 third of the airports used by aircraft that carry 19 passengers. The=20 directive will affect a total of about 200 Jetstream 31s, Metro 23s and=20 Beech 1900s, she said. The FAA scheduled a news conference Monday afternoon to announce the=20 initiative. The FAA allows airlines to estimate that a male passenger flying in winter= =20 averages 175 pounds, including clothing and carry-ons, and that each=20 checked bag weighs an average of 25 pounds. "They want to get a sense for=20 whether those numbers are still appropriate," McElroy said. Adult men=20 averaged 180.7 pounds in 1994, the most recent year in which statistics=20 from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention are available. And bags,= =20 particularly the popular wheeled versions, also have gotten larger. "People= =20 go out with these roll bags that weight 40 to 50 pounds," said David=20 Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association. The maximum takeoff=20 weight for the Beech 1900 that crashed in Charlotte is just over 17,000=20 pounds. The National Transportation Safety Board said the plane's=20 documentation shows it was within 100 pounds of that weight. Investigators= =20 also are looking at weight distribution, which is just as important as=20 total weight because it affects an aircraft's center of gravity. Too many=20 bags in the rear compartment or a few large people in the back could change= =20 a small plane's center of gravity and make it more much difficult to fly. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: www.pichemas.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************