Limitations and operator variations
Domain 2 - Limitations. Here the exam tests Section 2: what may never fly, what may fly only under conditions, and how State and operator variations modify the rulebook.
The layers of Section 2
- 2.1 Forbidden goods: some substances are forbidden on all aircraft; others are forbidden on passenger aircraft but permitted on cargo aircraft, where the Dangerous Goods List shows a cargo-only packing instruction.
- 2.2 Hidden dangerous goods: items whose description does not reveal the hazard (tools, instruments, machinery, camping equipment) must be questioned.
- 2.3 Passengers and crew, 2.4 air mail, 2.5 operator's property each have their own permissions and limits.
- 2.6 Excepted quantities and 2.7 Limited quantities are relief regimes with their own packing instructions, quantity caps and marks; they are not exemptions from all rules.
- 2.8 State and operator variations are published by country code and by airline code. They can only add restriction, never relax the DGR.
Worked example
A shipper books UN 3480 lithium ion batteries from Germany to the United States with a stop in Canada, on an airline whose code appears in the variation list. Correct method: read the Dangerous Goods List entry first, then apply the variations of the State of departure, every transit and overflight State, the State of destination, and the operator. The most restrictive combination wins; a variation that forbids the shipment on the operator means the shipment does not move on that carrier, regardless of the DGR entry.
Traps that cost marks
- Checking only origin and destination variations and ignoring transit or overflight States.
- Treating operator variations as advice rather than conditions of carriage.
- Assuming the passenger-aircraft column also covers cargo aircraft, or the reverse.
- Assuming limited or excepted quantities need no marks or no training.