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…
It was all over Aussie media yesterday. Because of paywall I couldn’t figure out how the crew member got the concussion. Thanks Gary for sharing the details.
I wonder if military aircraft are under the same rules as civilian ones. I really doubt it, so how much weight each bag could be is really not clear. When traveling with such weight restrictions, I have given up carrying a roller bag and carry a backpack or small duffle bag instead, thereby being able to take less bag and more stuff in the allowable 7kg total. I wonder if the supposed concussion was from a completely soft 7kg bag.
@jns — Which ‘rules’,’ of man or of nature? Gravity… yes. In times of peace? Probably some diplomatic courtesy for a friendly foreign leader of an allied country. In times of war? Good luck with that. Oh, you’re pretending that commercial airline baggage rules apply here. How cute.
Bummer, hope FA is okay. Indirectly related but this is also is a potential negative of the aisle – I’m constantly watching when someone is taking out a luggage above me.
@L737 — Good point. Time to wear a helmet everywhere. Just in case!
@1990 speaking of helmets, my winter broomball league has made helmets mandatory for all players and we’re up in arms about it.
Wait till FAA makes helmets mandatory for all passengers
@IsaacM — I resisted getting one for skiing; then, on an exceptionally cold day, I got one, and it kept me warmer, so I’ve got that at least on the ready.