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Questioning Safety of Heavy Passengers on Planes
NYT ^ | May 7, 2012 | CHRISTINE NEGRONI

Posted on 05/08/2012 10:18:55 AM PDT by Brandonmark

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1 posted on 05/08/2012 10:19:08 AM PDT by Brandonmark
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To: Brandonmark
If a heavier person completely fills a seat, the seat is not likely to behave as intended during a crash

In the event of a crash, just what part of the aircraft will be 'behaving as intended', anyway?

2 posted on 05/08/2012 10:24:13 AM PDT by Smokin' Joe (How often God must weep at humans' folly. Stand fast. God knows what He is doing)
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To: Brandonmark

Is this actually a worry? I mean, is it that they’re getting calls from crippled fatties, or is it a theoretical problem that only popped up when someone did the math on the 170-pound rule? Because, I’ll tell you, we have a lot of other things to worry about. How many people are affected by plane accidents, really? And how many plane accidents are hard enough to hurt you without killig you?

I swear, if they could figure how the victims of out of date safety rules, it’d be something like 13 people.


3 posted on 05/08/2012 10:24:53 AM PDT by Tublecane
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To: Brandonmark

Notice the narrative in the media the last few days attacking ‘fatties’? Yep! Obamacare!

Rush is ALL OVER this, today!


4 posted on 05/08/2012 10:26:22 AM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear (A MUST WATCH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KeOLurcQaqI)
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To: Brandonmark

I’m sorry, but I think “big boned” folks should pay more for airfare. Why not charge by the pound, like we do steak, or volume as we do for so many things?

I go about 5’7” and 150 pounds, a few years ago my bag was 52 pounds and I got nailed $50 or so for the 2 pound overage. I turned around to see the next passenger who was 6’5” and 300+, and I wondered how I got nailed for 2 pounds and my wife and I weighed less than that giant.


5 posted on 05/08/2012 10:27:00 AM PDT by RGF
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To: Brandonmark

Does this mean that Michelle can’t fly commercial? How are they going to get back to Chicago in January?


6 posted on 05/08/2012 10:28:44 AM PDT by FrankR
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To: Brandonmark

The men in my family (and women) are extremely tall. The women are 6 ft. to 6’3 the men range from 6’2-6’7. Sure a 5 ft 10 gentleman is likely to look healthy at 170 lbs or less but a 6ft 7 gentleman looks like he just got out of a prison camp at less than 170. These people just lump everyone into a category and forget that everyone is not made in the image of government guidelines. I would venture to say that based on height and size Mrs. Obama surpasses the airline “safety” guidlines.


7 posted on 05/08/2012 10:30:03 AM PDT by marstegreg
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To: Brandonmark
“the unrestrained motion of the passenger.”

A meat bomb, in other words.
8 posted on 05/08/2012 10:30:21 AM PDT by Telepathic Intruder (The right thing is not always the popular thing)
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To: RushIsMyTeddyBear

Here’s the narrative throughout:

http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news?p=Obesity&ei=UTF-8&fr=moz35&fr2=newsdd

Someone has gotten their ‘marching orders’.


9 posted on 05/08/2012 10:31:21 AM PDT by RushIsMyTeddyBear (A MUST WATCH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KeOLurcQaqI)
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To: Brandonmark

If they are fat, they are a danger to themselves as well as other passengers and crew.

Do not let the overweight people on the plane.


10 posted on 05/08/2012 10:32:25 AM PDT by Uncle Slayton
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To: Brandonmark

By that logic, an AIDS victim who gets cut in a plane crash could endanger all of those in the vicinity.

But then, the BMI police don’t see things that way.


11 posted on 05/08/2012 10:33:29 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Barack Obama has cut and run from what he called "the right war".)
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To: Smokin' Joe
So people who weigh more 170 pounds might not survive when the plane hits the deck at 500 knots? Holy crap. All right fatties, let that be a warning to you.
12 posted on 05/08/2012 10:33:51 AM PDT by Trod Upon (Obama: Making the Carter malaise look good. Misery Index in 3...2...1)
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To: Brandonmark

I figure...maybe a few airplane seats have saved a few people...somehow or another. But, I’d say it’s really not all that important.


13 posted on 05/08/2012 10:34:45 AM PDT by Osage Orange (The MSM is the most dangerous entity in the United States of America.)
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To: Brandonmark

I’m not sure what advantage/disadvantage weight makes when your falling from 30,000 feet.


14 posted on 05/08/2012 10:36:18 AM PDT by Made In The USA (Bacon wrapped in bacon, wrapped in bacon, wrapped in bacon...)
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To: Brandonmark

I just realized something, This war on weight began as Chris Christie is considering the VP slot. Coincidence? I think not.


15 posted on 05/08/2012 10:36:47 AM PDT by marstegreg
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To: Tublecane

When the IDEAL weight for a man who is 6 foot is 180, shouldn’t the seats be designed to deal with more that 170 pounds?

Or should everyone be gaunt or short or shot?


16 posted on 05/08/2012 10:36:54 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Barack Obama has cut and run from what he called "the right war".)
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To: Tublecane

And how many plane accidents are hard enough to hurt you without killig you?


About half.

The point is that we should not let people impair the safety of others. If a bank of three seats is rated for 510 lbs, then there should be appropriate limits and rules.

Note that increasing the weight “capacity” of the seats no only makes the aircraft heavier and thus flying more expensive, but it harms the safety of normal passengers, because the seats are designed to collapse controllably (like car structures) to absorb the energy of the crash.

Certainly, if someone is 250 pounds (50% over the limit) they should be paying a surcharge, and a seat should be left empty between two biggies.

If someone is much more than that (say, over 300) then they should have two seats (leave it to the airline how and whether to charge them.


17 posted on 05/08/2012 10:37:17 AM PDT by Atlas Sneezed (Hold My Beer and Watch This!)
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To: Uncle Slayton
If they are fat, they are a danger to themselves as well as other passengers and crew. Do not let the overweight people on the plane.

Mind your own business Michelle obama.

18 posted on 05/08/2012 10:38:45 AM PDT by pgkdan (ANYBODY BUT OBAMA!)
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To: RGF

Your 2 lb overage fee is to discourage people from packing heavy objects in baggage that has to be handled by many different people. You see the people at check in, the people who load the bags on the conveyor belt into the aircraft, but what about those people you don’t see? Those folk in the belly of the aircraft who have to stack the baggage in confined areas, the people who load the racks behind the ticket counter.

Although a lot is automated, it’s not all automated, and a lot of people will touch your luggage before you pick it up at your destination. The goal is to arrive at some ‘reasonable’ weight that allows you to pack, but doesn’t permanently harm the baggage handling personnel from the ticket gate, all the way to the baggage claim.

50 lbs was the weight the airlines decided on. And as a frequent flier, it’s pretty easy to manage this. All it takes is a bathroom scale, some 3rd grade arithmatic and a few minutes of your time.

Life would be a lot easier if everyone were blessed with your height/weight; but life isn’t fair.


19 posted on 05/08/2012 10:40:16 AM PDT by Hodar ( Who needs laws; when this FEELS so right?)
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To: marstegreg
...Mrs. Obama surpasses the airline “safety” guidlines.

The safety guidelines presume a butt that is less than two axe handles wide.

20 posted on 05/08/2012 10:44:25 AM PDT by PBRSTREETGANG
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