The Australian Air Force KC-30A flying Prime Minister Anthony Albanese home from meeting with President Trump diverted to St. Louis because of an injured crewmember.
The KC-30A is the military version of the Airbus A330-200. It can’t make U.S. – Australia flight non-stop, and was slated to fly from Joint Base Andrews to Honolulu on Tuesday evening and then on to Sydney.
However, a crewmember was struck in the head by luggage from an overhead bin, which led to a suspected concussion. The flight diverted to St. Louis where they were taken by ambulance to a hospital. It landed in St. Louis around 7:45 p.m. Central time and spent three hours on the ground there before continuing to Honolulu.
Australian airlines generally limit carry-on bags to 7 kilograms (~ 15 pounds) and enforcement is common. U.S. passengers traveling on Australian airlines, and domestically within Australia, are frequently caught by surprise. They’re far more conscious of the operational efficiency (board faster, faster turn times) that comes from confiscating bags, and airlines there haven’t historically installed larger overhead bins. It also, though, comes with a modest safety benefit – that was on full display here.
RAAF KC-30A, credit: Bidgee via Wikimedia Commons
An older GAO report suggests 1,200 to 4,500 injuries per year from bin-related falling luggage, mostly inflight rather than during boarding or deplaning. Nationally across all airlines there are nearly 1,000 injuries of flight attendants per year from “contact with objects and equipment” that can include bags. Most of those are minor. About a third of flight attendants say they receive bruises or bumps at least once a year from overhead bin bags. Occasionally, of course, injuries can be serious.
Sounds like a bad day, mate…