Fatties a flight risk?
2003-01-29 11:09
Washington - US commuter airlines will weigh passengers for the next month to determine whether heavier travellers are a safety threat to small aircraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration has worried that overloading may have caused a twin-engine US Airways Express to crash in Charlotte, North Carolina earlier this month, killing 21 people.
The FAA will test its assumption that adult passengers weigh 81 kg in summer and 83.3 kg in winter, including an assumed 9 kg of hand luggage.
Obesity has been declared a major health problem in the United States, and some airlines have threatened to charge overweight flyers for two seats. - Sapa-DPA
- SAPA