Safety board wants airline passengers weighed

CNN ^ | 2/27/04

[finnman69]

WASHINGTON (AP) --Air travel would be safer if airlines weighed their passengers from time to time to make sure they know how much weight their planes are carrying, the National Transportation Safety Board says.

Following its investigation into a commuter plane crash last year in North Carolina, the NTSB said on Thursday that airlines should at least periodically make passengers step on a scale.

[finnman69]

This should be fun. Imagine the entertainment at the airport.

[freedomlover]

Jeez all they would have to do is to add up the stated weights on the drivers licenses . . and then add 40%

[Mr. Bird]

I remember a gimmick restaurant that would weigh customers and charge them accordingly. It was an all you can eat type place (I think), and it was like a nickel a pound or something. Ladies could pay extra to NOT get weighed!

[finnman69]

Better yet, the airlines should charge you so much for your seat and then have surcharges by the pound.

[Senormechanico]

Bumpersticker on the airplane:

NO FAT CHICKS

[RobRoy]

It's about time!

[Arrowhead1952]

Rosie O'Donnell will never be allowed on another airplane again.......

[Servant of the 9]

I hope they weigh them with their carry on luggage.

Planes today are beginning to look like a Mexican Bus, with everything but the crates of live chickens carried aboard.

So9

[Therapist]

Standard is your BMI target weight + 35%. Over that pay a surcharge.

[Therapist]

She won't be served alcohol either as she brings her own licker on board.

[Cboldt]

Ohhh, that was naughty. I am ROTFL.

[Saundra Duffy]

Glad I lost those 15 pounds. When I hop on JetBlue to go to DC for the Second Amendment Sisters rally on Mother's Day, I don't care if they weigh me right in front of everyone.

[Arrowhead1952]

She won't be served alcohol either as she brings her own licker on board.

Wonder if they take their "toys" along for the ride too????

[Docbarleypop]

They did that at the Ground Round for the kids buffett. But that was years ago.

[finnman69]

[cc2k]

I like the humorous comments here.

But as a solution to the actual problem, this isn't really the best idea.

Electronic scales (heavy duty ones) are really pretty inexpensive today (especially compared to airplanes and lawsuits). A better solution would be to require commercial carriers to have scale pads under the landing gear at the gate. That way, the pilot and crew could know that the plane isn't overloaded, and that the weight distribution is within acceptable parameters, before pulling away from the gate. Also, you wouldn't have to embarass the customers.

[ErnBatavia]

This should be fun. Imagine the entertainment at the airport.

Do Senators this high profile fly commercial?

[Squawk 8888]

Sounds like the reporter doesn't know what he's talking about. There are different standard weights for adult male, adult female, children and infants. The standard weights are higher in winter to allow for clothes and there's an admonition in the AIP to add 30 pounds per person when carrying "a group of large males (such as a football team). Also, why is the crash being blamed on a bad "estimate" of the baggage weight? The baggage is weighed at check-in so it would not be an error in estimation, it's a calculation error.

What really concerns me is the proposed requirement to occasionally weigh passengers only for aicraft carrying 10 or more pax. Balance is more critical for smaller aircraft so a more sensible rule would be to weigh the self-loading cargo for aircraft with fewer than 50 seats.

All that aside, it would probably be a good idea to revise the standard weights. People (especially Americans) are getting heavier and that does affect safety.

[ErnBatavia]

Bumpersticker on the airplane: NO FAT CHICKS

I guess when Rosie O'Donut goes back to San Francisco for a second marriage, she'll just have to drive...

[robertpaulsen]

Treat people like cargo (which they are) and just charge by the pound. Airlines would compete on a per-pound basis.

Let's say Chicago to New York is $.89 per pound each way (minimum charge, $100). You weigh 200 lbs. and your luggage is 100 lbs., your cost is $267. You want to save money, cut down on the luggage or ship it ahead UPS. Or go on a diet.

A 150 lb. woman with no luggage pays half that.

Place the scale at the ticket counter or gate, insert credit card, type in your code which identifies the rate you negotiated, and you're billed in total privacy (ie, your rate and weight are hidden).