Dangerous goods
Items that can endanger an aircraft — from lithium batteries to aerosols — and the rules on what passengers may carry and crew must handle.
Definition
Dangerous goods are articles or substances that pose a risk to health, safety, property or the environment when carried by air, classified under the ICAO Technical Instructions and the IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations. Cabin crew are trained to recognise hidden dangerous goods in passenger baggage, to know what is permitted in the cabin and hold, and to handle incidents — a spare lithium battery in checked baggage, a leaking aerosol, an overheating power bank — using the aircraft's procedures and equipment.
What it means for you
DG training is mandatory in initial and recurrent, and the questions are precise: which batteries go where, why a power bank is never in the hold, what to do when a phone starts smoking in a seat. Lithium battery incidents are now the most common dangerous-goods event on board, and airlines have tightened cabin rules on charging in response. Knowing the fire drill for a battery is part of the same syllabus.
In practice
A passenger on an AJet flight reports a power bank growing hot in their bag; the crew move it into a fire-containment bag, douse it with water as trained and inform the captain, who continues to Istanbul.
Related terms
4 terms- Fire trainingSafety & trainingHands-on training to find and fight fires on board — galley, lavatory, lithium battery — using extinguishers and a smoke hood.
- SEPSafety & trainingSafety and Emergency Procedures — the core safety syllabus every cabin crew member is trained and re-examined on.
- Recurrent trainingSafety & trainingThe mandatory yearly refresher and check that keeps your SEP, first-aid and type qualifications valid.
- Overhead binAircraft & cabinThe lockable stowage above the seats; crew close and check every one before the cabin is secure, and it is where boarding is won or lost.