EU-OPS 1 - Extract — Page 17, Lesson 22

Let's start with the stowage rules. This is Appendix 1 to OPS 1.270, and it's all about how an operator must ensure hand baggage and cargo are adequately and securely stowed in the cabin. The first rule: each item carried in a cabin must be stowed only in a location that is capable of restraining it. That means the stowage itself — the bin, the locker, the space — must be able to hold the item in place, not just physically contain it. Second: mass limitations placarded on or adjacent to stowages must not be exceeded. So if a locker has a placard saying "max 10 kg," you don't put 12 kg in there. The placard is the legal limit. Third: underseat stowages must not be used unless the seat is equipped with a restraint bar, and the baggage is of such size that it may adequately be restrained by this equipment. So it's not enough that the bag fits under the seat — the seat must have that bar, and the bag must be small enough that the bar actually holds it. Fourth: items must not be stowed in toilets, or against bulkheads that are incapable of restraining articles against movement forwards, sideways, or upwards — and unless the bulkheads carry a placard specifying the greatest mass that may be placed there. So a bulkhead is a partition wall; if it can't hold items against movement in those three directions, you can't use it, and even if it can, there must be a placard with a mass limit. Fifth: baggage and cargo placed in lockers must not be of such size that they prevent latched doors from being closed securely. The door has to latch fully — if the bag is too big and the door won't close properly, that's a violation. Sixth: baggage and cargo must not be placed where it can impede access to emergency equipment. Fire extinguishers, oxygen, first aid — nothing can block the path to them. Seventh: checks must be made before take-off, before landing, and whenever the fasten seat belts signs are illuminated, or it is otherwise so ordered — to ensure that baggage is stowed where it cannot impede evacuation from the aircraft, or cause injury by falling or other movement, as may be appropriate to the phase of flight. So three trigger points: before take-off, before landing, and any time the seat belt sign comes on or a crew member orders it. Now, the second part of this excerpt is a multiple-choice question about maximum zero fuel mass. The maximum zero fuel mass is the maximum permissible mass of the aeroplane — and the correct answer here is: with no usable fuel. That's the definition. It's the heaviest the aeroplane can be with no usable fuel on board. The other options — including fuel taken up for take-off, or including all usable fuel unless the AFM explicitly excludes it — those are distractors. The precise definition is: no usable fuel. So to tie it together: the stowage rules protect the cabin from shifting loads, and the zero fuel mass limit protects the structure — the wing and fuselage — from being overstressed by the combination of payload and fuel.