AIRLINE: Yikes! I'm a bit more than 180.7, can the airline deny someone boarding due to the fact that they are too heavy, even though they might fit in the seats? Mike Burris Cambridge, Mass --- lafrance@verizon.net wrote: > FAA asks airlines to weigh some passengers and bags > > > By LESLIE MILLER > The Associated Press > 1/27/03 2:47 PM > > > WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Aviation > Administration will ask airlines to weigh some > passengers and bags before they board 19-seat planes > to find out whether current weight estimates are > appropriate. > > Investigators are exploring the possibility that too > much weight contributed to the Jan. 8 crash of a > 19-seat Beech 1900 turboprop that killed 21 people > in North Carolina. > > Debby McElroy, president of the Regional Airlines > Association, which is working with the FAA, told The > Associated Press airlines are being asked to weigh > passengers and bags once within a month at about a > third of the airports used by aircraft that carry 19 > passengers. > > The directive will affect a total of about 200 > Jetstream 31s, Metro 23s and Beech 1900s, she said. > > The FAA scheduled a news conference Monday afternoon > to announce the initiative. > > The FAA allows airlines to estimate that a male > passenger flying in winter averages 175 pounds, > including clothing and carry-ons, and that each > checked bag weighs an average of 25 pounds. > > "They want to get a sense for whether those numbers > are still appropriate," McElroy said. > > Adult men averaged 180.7 pounds in 1994, the most > recent year in which statistics from the Center for > Disease Control and Prevention are available. And > bags, particularly the popular wheeled versions, > also have gotten larger. > > "People go out with these roll bags that weight 40 > to 50 pounds," said David Stempler, president of the > Air Travelers Association. > > The maximum takeoff weight for the Beech 1900 that > crashed in Charlotte is just over 17,000 pounds. The > National Transportation Safety Board said the > plane's documentation shows it was within 100 pounds > of that weight. > > Investigators also are looking at weight > distribution, which is just as important as total > weight because it affects an aircraft's center of > gravity. Too many bags in the rear compartment or a > few large people in the back could change a small > plane's center of gravity and make it more much > difficult to fly. > > > ------ > > On the Net: > > Federal Aviation Administration: http://www.faa.gov > > > > > > Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights > reserved. > > Roger > EWROPS