Handling, loading, stowage and segregation
Domain 8 - Handling, loading, stowage and segregation. The exam tests Section 9 decisions: what may be loaded where, what must be kept apart, and what the captain must be told.
Loading rules
- Packages bearing the Cargo Aircraft Only label go only on cargo aircraft, in compartments inaccessible to passengers.
- Labels and marks should remain visible or be identifiable from the loading document; packages must be secured against movement and inspected for damage, leakage or staining before and after loading.
- The notification to captain is required for dangerous goods loaded on aircraft; it lists proper shipping name, class, quantity, loading location, and for radioactive material the category and transport index. It must be available to the flight crew before departure.
- Dangerous goods must not be loaded where heat, spillage from other cargo, or movement could damage them; wet or damaged packages are offloaded and reported.
Segregation and separation
- The DGR sets separation distances for radioactive packages from crew and passengers, and for magnetized material from sensitive aircraft instruments.
- Toxic and infectious substance packages must not be stowed in the same compartment or unit load device as animals or foodstuffs for human or animal consumption.
Worked example
A consignment of UN 2814, Infectious substance affecting humans, Category A, is booked on a freight flight that also carries live animals and perishable food on the main deck. Correct decision: the infectious packages are segregated from the animals and food, either in a separate compartment or a separate unit load device, the loading position is recorded, and the notification to captain is completed before departure.
Traps that cost marks
- Loading a Cargo Aircraft Only package on a passenger aircraft after a last-minute aircraft change without rechecking.
- Treating sea segregation tables as interchangeable with the DGR.
- Forgetting the notification to captain, or leaving it in the office.
- Loading a leaking package and wiping it instead of removing and reporting it.