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AMAN
SANGAR
Marketing Communications Officer
Swift Freight International LLC
Dubai, U.A.E. |
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The
Danger
in Dangerous
Cargo
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14th
April 2002
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Dangerous
Cargo is exactly what it means - "Dangerous".
No matter how frequent the shipments may be and no matter
how much experience the forwarder might have, whilst
handling Dangerous Cargo he can never afford to let
his guard down. The danger of not doing so can lead
to nothing short of disaster, as one of the world's
leading airlines found out not very long ago. The negligent
behaviour of the concerned authorities not only put
in jeopardy a US$75 million aircraft but also put at
risk the priceless lives of around 200 innocent passengers.
The
incident happened whilst the A330 was operating a same
- day return leg sector as flight MH85, from Beijing
to Kuala Lumpur. Malaysian Airlines accepted the shipment
of chemicals for onward carriage to Madras.
The cargo was delivered to the Beijing handling
agent, whose duty was to check the shipment in the presence
of the Malaysian cargo manager or his senior staff in
China.
It
was during unloading after the passenger flight arrived
at Kuala Lumpur that loaders noticed the spillage in
one of the belly holds and no sooner five loaders were
overcome by the toxic fumes and were taken to hospital.
According
to experts, the 2,018 Kilo shipment - thought to be
similar to nerve gas or a potent bi-product could have
killed more than 200 passengers and crew during their
scheduled flight from China to Malaysia. Toxic substances
are normally banned from passenger flights and in some
cases, depending on their corrosiveness, are banned
from all cargo aircraft.
It
appears that the wrongly declared substance had been
presented as 'Hydroxyquinoline', a harmless pink powder,
which is a non- - hazardous ingredient in cosmetic facial
creams. An Air Cargo News source in Beijing believes
the shipper - China National Chemical Company in Dalian
- affixed the wrong labels on the drums and that someone
deliberately covered up the real contents.
After
the spillage was discovered, Malaysian Airlines engineers
flatly refused to attend the stricken airliner believing
the airline was withholding vital information about
the properties and hazards of the toxic cargo. Lloyd's
underwriters from London and experts from Airbus, Toulouse,
visited the aircraft - but only from a safe distance
and according to one member official: " no member
of either team has boarded the aircraft for fear of
their safety ".
Work
on retrieving the cargo stopped immediately whilst the
documentation was examined. Engineers refused to clean
up the spillage or go near the airliner until a 'proper
shipping name' had been allocated to the chemical. An
engineering official was quoted saying, " We've
taken this action following the management's refusal
to document to us exactly what the chemical is ".
China
has an appalling record for cargo packaging and documentation
and forwarders there post more damaged claims than in
any other area of the world. A reliable industry source
in Beijing admits seeing the shipment of approximately
100 small metal drums containing the chemicals."
When you see a cargo shipment of drums, they must be
checked carefully for contents and labelling."
He says.
Lu
Xianyang, an official from the Civil Aviation Administration
of China (CAAC), told Malaysian Airlines: " Beijing
Capital Airport was not responsible for Malaysia carrying
the hazardous cargo. The airline's station Manager should
have checked the cargo manifest and made a decision."
Surely
accusations will fly and blames exchanged, but what
remains a fact is that this incident could spell the
end of the five year old A330 valued on today's market
at around $75 million and even graver is the fact that
the lives of 200 passengers and crew were risked.
Then
again this is exactly what dangerous cargo is "Dangerous",
and if not handled carefully the danger becomes a reality
sooner than expected and larger than imagined.
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