FAA changes weight rules for aircraft By Alan Levin, USA TODAY WASHINGTON =97 Airlines must add 10 pounds to the estimated weight of each= =20 passenger and 5 pounds for each checked bag to ensure that planes do not=20 take off overweight and unsafe, the Federal Aviation Administration=20 announced Monday. The move was prompted by the Jan. 8 crash of a commuter=20 plane in Charlotte that killed all 21 people aboard. The FAA also released= =20 a tape recording of Capt. Katie Leslie's call for help before her plane=20 slammed down near the runway and burned. "We have an emergency for Air=20 Midwest fifty-four eighty," she yelled. She apparently did not have time to= =20 fully identify her flight number, which was 5481. Investigators suspect the= =20 Air Midwest Beech 1900D propeller plane was at or slightly above its=20 maximum weight on takeoff. Most of the weight was toward the tail. By=20 itself, the weight probably would not have been a problem. A safety margin= =20 is built into aircraft weight limits so planes can fly slightly above the=20 limit. But an apparent maintenance error on the 19-seat plane made it=20 difficult to lower the nose with the control column. After it rose above=20 the ground, its nose pointed dangerously skyward and the pilots were=20 powerless to level it off. The plane ceased flying and spun into the ground. Under the FAA's old rule, airlines estimated that passengers older than 12= =20 weighed 180 pounds in warm months and 185 in the winter. That includes 20=20 pounds of carry-on luggage. Starting in 90 days, airlines must assume that= =20 passengers weigh 190 or 195 pounds depending on the season. Similarly,=20 checked bags on domestic flights will rise from an estimated 25 to 30=20 pounds. The 30-pound estimate for checked bags on international flights=20 will not change. The new weight estimates were fiercely opposed by some=20 airlines. They could cost the already financially strapped airline industry= =20 money because some flights may have to leave with empty seats or carry less= =20 cargo. The impact will be worst for the smallest planes, said Richard=20 Aboulafia, an airline analyst with the Teal Group. "It could result in a=20 loss of 5% of your capacity with the stroke of a pen," Aboulafia said. Shortly after the accident, the FAA required airlines flying smaller=20 aircraft to weigh passengers. Fifteen airlines weighed 6,100 people in=20 separate studies. They found that passengers averaged between 164 to 200=20 pounds without luggage. As a result of those surveys, some airlines=20 instituted even higher weight estimates than the FAA requires in the new=20 rule. At Air Midwest, for example, airline workers assume teenage and adult= =20 passengers weigh 200 pounds with their carry-on items, said Mesa Air=20 Group's general counsel, Brian Gillman. Air Midwest is a subsidiary of=20 Mesa. The new rule is an interim step. The FAA plans a broader survey of=20 passenger weights and could implement higher weight estimates, spokesman=20 Paul Takemoto said. The Air Midwest crash came with little warning,=20 according to the recording of air-traffic-control radio communications.=20 After Leslie's distress call, controllers ushered other aircraft off that=20 runway, but allowed some jets to land on another runway. "Is that ... the=20 fire department practicing?" one US Airways pilot asked the control tower.= =20 "Ummm, we'll talk about it later," the controller radioed in reply. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.cso.gov.tt TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************