So many people who have a fear of flying wonder if their plane might be too heavy to take off . This is a perfectly normal thought, especially when you’ve stood in a long line of people waiting to check in and they all seem to have enormous bags.
The fact is that every bag is weighed, every person is given an average weight…and it is adjusted for Sumo wrestlers or Ballerinas when required … and then the total weight of baggage, people, fuel, catering and cargo is added to the plane’s weight for the take off weight…and this has to be less than the weight allowed for that plane on the runway it uses for the weather conditions at the time. That’s what the traffic dispatcher checks. Then as long as the plane is balanced within its limits the Captain is given a load-sheet to confirm that everything’s correct.
An aircraft will never bee too heavy to take off because there are so many people checking and double checking so many things. We cover this subject on our fear of flying course and our Workshop booklet
Keith
