The philosophy on safe carriage of dangerous

goods
Dangerous goods can be carried safely by air transport providing certain principles are adopted. The
rules are intended to provide a level of safety without placing an aircraft or its occupants at risk. They
try to ensure that, should an incident occur, it does not lead to an accident.
In general dangerous goods are divided into various classes or divisions according to the hazard they
present. These include:
too dangerous ever to be carried on an aircraft;
forbidden in normal circumstances but may be carried with the permission of the aviation
regulator and subject to strict conditions being met;
restricted to carriage only on cargo aircraft; and
carried on either a passenger or cargo aircraft.

Cargo aircraft
Dangerous goods restricted to transport by cargo aircraft are almost always in larger quantities per
package than allowed on passenger aircraft. Generally no restriction is placed on the number of
packages, but there are provisions for stowage, like keeping incompatible items segregated. Using cargo
aircraft allows the goods to be more accessible during flight and gives the flight crew the ability to
consider a greater range of emergency actions than possible on a passenger aircraft.

Rules on transporting dangerous goods

The general rules on which the air transport of dangerous goods are based are produced by the United
Nations and, in the case of radioactive materials, by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The United Nations system ensures compatibility between the international modes of transport so a
consignment may be carried by more than one mode without having to reclassify or repack.
Modifications are made to the system to take into account the peculiarities of air transport, while
keeping in mind the need to ensure modal compatibility.

Packaging
There are packing requirements of a general nature and specific packing instructions. Together these are
intended to ensure the safety of dangerous goods in air transport. Packing requirements apply in almost
all circumstances. The packing instructions mostly use UN specification packagings which must meet
performance standards. When dangerous goods are in limited quantities these may not be required.
There is usually a wide choice of inner and outer packagings and single packagings are often permitted.
Sometimes very restrictive packagings, a select few types or triple packagings are required. Generally
the quantity of dangerous goods which can be placed into an inner packaging and a complete packaging
is strictly controlled. When dangerous goods are consigned in limited quantities, a lower standard of
pacakaging may be permitted.
After dangerous goods have been packed, the packages are marked with essential information,
including the proper shipping name and the UN number, and labels depicting all the potential hazard(s)
of the contents are affixed. This is to ensure packages containing dangerous goods can be recognised
and warning given of the potential hazard(s) without relying on information on accompanying
documents. There is a dangerous goods transport document which accompanies most consignments to
provide detailed information about the goods and so that if required there is a seperate means of
identifyign the contents of packages.

Informing people
The pilot-in-command is informed of what dangerous goods are on board, since they need to be
considered in an emergency. If one does occur, the pilot needs to notify air traffic services in order to
aid the response to the emergency. In the event of an accident or incident, information is provided by
the operator to the relevant authority as quickly as possible to ensure that any hazard arising from the
dangerous goods is minimised.

Training
Training is an important aid to understanding the philosophy and requirements of the regulations. There
is a need for everyone concerned to receive training either for general familiarisation or to provide
detailed knowledge. Dangerous goods are very unlikely to cause a problem when they are prepared,
handled and carried in accordance with the regulations.

Reporting incidents
Dangerous goods accidents or incidents must be reported so that an investigation by the relevant
authority can establish the cause and take action to prevent a recurrence. Any weakness in the
regulations has to be identified.