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FAA to Study 19-Seater Weight Limits
(15:05 ET)
Monday, January 27, 2003
By Leslie Miller
Associated Press Writer

The maximum takeoff weight for the Beech 1900 that crashed in Charlotte is just over 17,000 pounds. The National Transportation Safety Board said the plane's documentation shows it was within 100 pounds of that weight.

WASHINGTON -- AP
The Federal Aviation Administration will ask airlines to weigh some passengers and bags before they board 19-seat planes to find out whether current weight estimates are appropriate.

Investigators are exploring the possibility that too much weight contributed to the Jan. 8 crash of a 19-seat Beech 1900 turboprop that killed 21 people in North Carolina.

Debby McElroy, president of the Regional Airlines Association, which is working with the FAA, told The Associated Press airlines are being asked to weigh passengers and bags once within a month at about a third of the airports used by aircraft that carry 19 passengers.

The directive will affect a total of about 200 Jetstream 31s, Metro 23s and Beech 1900s, she said.
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2003 © The Associated Press

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