Description / Abstract:
Purpose:
Air cargo pallets and their cargo restraint nets constitute
aircraft Unit Load Devices, defined by industry standards and
airworthiness certified based on Technical Standard Order (TSO)
C90c in accordance with the requirements of NAS 3610. This
guarantees their design to be intrinsically safe for flight on
board compatible aircraft types. However, actual flight safety also
requires these certified pieces of equipment to be properly used:
numerous occurrences have demonstrated a certified ULD can
nevertheless jeopardize flight safety if loaded or restrained in an
inadequate manner.
Accordingly, this ARP aims at providing recognized industry
standard methods to achieve the best attainable level of safety
when preparing air cargo pallets for loading on board aircraft,
taking into account the requirements to be met as a result of the
ULD's airworthiness certification requisites, the general
requirements expressed in the aircraft manufacturers Weight and
Balance Manuals, as well as the various potential areas of concern
identified based on experience.
This ARP therefore provides recommended practical means of
compliance with flight safety objectives, intended to be available
as a common base for carriers as well as shippers and cargo
handling agents when establishing their own in-house publications
and staff training programs.
This ARP assumes any air cargo pallet prepared shall, prior to
release for loading on board an aircraft, be inspected and found
satisfactory by competent, suitably trained personnel responsible
for checking it meets all applicable flight safety
requirements.
This ARP shall not, under any circumstance, supersede the
requirements of applicable airworthiness regulations (see FAR Part
25) or the aircraft manufacturer's Weight and Balance Manual.
Field of Application:
This ARP is intended to apply to any airworthiness certified air
cargo pallet built up from either a single or a number of pieces of
commercial cargo, intended to be loaded on lower, main or upper
deck of a civil transport aircraft, whether a freighter or a
passenger carrying aircraft.
Its field of application includes all pallets prepared within
ground premises, whether at a shipper's facilities or an airport
cargo warehouse, including those intended to be loaded into the
aircraft in a "floating" (i.e., not fully system restrained)
position requiring tie-down onto the aircraft's structure instead
of the pallet's tracks.
Its provisions may not entirely apply in the event of
"pre-embarked" pallets, i.e. pallets loaded empty into the aircraft
to be used as a floor on which cargo is later brought and
palletized inside the cargo compartment. In such a case, it
pertains to the operator to identify and implement the applicable
criteria.
This ARP is not intended to apply to air cargo pallets prepared
for military transport aircraft, and does not take into account any
specific criteria for military aircraft. Nothing, however,
precludes it being used for guidelines in this case, it pertaining
to the military operator to identify and implement any additional
applicable criteria.