AA Gate Attendant forced me to Check Mavic.

[mstevens]

We're flying to Mexico this November so we shall see.

Don't forget to register your Mavic with SCT in Mexico before you go. There's some faxing involved, so allow some lead time for that.

 

[TheLightSpeed!]

I have gone on AA with my Mavic. I don't understand people that get their bags taken. I'm always first in line to board and never have a problem. Even when I rolled my monster Phantom GoProfessional case on!

Lastly, they don't charge to check a bag at the gate. I've never heard of that.

You should have told her you have sensitive and expensive camera equipment and batteries and she would have let you by.

 

[Vilco]

What really pisses me off, is American Airlines charges $25.00 for each checked bag, hence people pack way too much in carry-on. We each had one checked bag, and one carry-on. Her checked suitcase arrived missing its wheels. My forced check-on, my Mavic Pro, had damage to the gimbal, the clip and dome were both broken, and the gimbal was protruding out past the metal retaining clip.

United is famous for this kind of luggage handling:

 

[MavicMo]

So, really curious to hear how the Mavic faired? What's the update?

 

[mark_t]

With AA, if you are in one of the later boarding groups on a full flight, or if you are flying stand-by, it is quite common to be asked to check your carry-on.

If your carry-on contains valuable, fragile or dangerous items that should not be in the hold then they will give you the opportunity to remove them from the bag, but they will not necessarily allow you to take the bag onboard, especially if the aircraft overheads really are full, so plan accordingly if you know you will be in a late boarding group or flying standby.

You should not under any circumstances leave batteries in the bag and let them check it into the hold.

If your carry-on does fit under the seat in front of you then that should be enough and it is worth digging your heels in as the GA will not want to deal with the problems that would follow a denied boarding of a customer who doesn't even need to use the overhead space..

 

[Fplvert]

I have gone on AA with my Mavic. I don't understand people that get their bags taken. I'm always first in line to board and never have a problem. Even when I rolled my monster Phantom GoProfessional case on!

Lastly, they don't charge to check a bag at the gate. I've never heard of that.

You should have told her you have sensitive and expensive camera equipment and batteries and she would have let you by.

AA charges $25 US to check a bag. Hence many people carry as much on as possible to avoid checking. Also, they really are brutal on checked luggage.

I would never check a Phantom or a Mavic and have flown many times with no problem.

I should have pulled the backpack out of the carry-on sized hardcase, and saved the grief of having my bird damaged. I was baffled and worried we were going to miss the flight just because the gate attendant was in a pissy mood.

I think the Mavic will be okay, I need a new gimbal clamp and dome for sure, but I got the gimbal back in its socket and will test soon as the rain stops!

Thanks for the support of this community, I really just want others to know what can happen when traveling with your drone.

Peace

 

[Pedro]

I'm still intrigued to know whether the case in question complied with the airline's cabin bag size criteria or not as that seems to be the crux of this thread..

 

[dirkclod]

Ok guys there will be No More of the Racist remarks in this. I am going to leave it open for the moment but any
more and that is it.
Stay On Topic and Be Civil.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

Let's stay on topic and leave the opinions on race out of it.
The off topic comments have been cleaned up.
Thank you, carry on.​

 

[Fplvert]

I'm still intrigued to know whether the case in question complied with the airline's cabin bag size criteria or not as that seems to be the crux of this thread..

Yes. The hard wheeled case was within carry-on size. 21" x 14" x 9" and we were on connecting flights to the Dominican Republic. We were boarding group 8, the last group by ticket, on all three flights.

BTW for the off topic posters, we are traveling part of multi cultural group on a business trip to the DR. Over 800 people from all over the world are here together. When you come to the DR, as with many other places not in the USA, you MUST complete paperwork declaring your nationality and sex. Many of you will be required to answer these questions when you fill out a Homeland Security I9 form, to get a job in the USA

My description of the gate attendant was accurate and no offense was intended.

Edit: I'm going back the same way Friday. Noooo!

 

[BmrUpInTheSky]

Another lesson learned here are Mavic are some pretty weak drones. Breaking in a hard case with the gimbal covers is weak sauce.

 

[paulwills]

Well, it happened in Houston, Texas. A Airline Attendant threatened to kick me and my wife off the plane if we didn't check our carry-ons.

We were flying to Punta Cana, DR. She had a soft bag that contained our IPads, headphones and snacks. It easily fit under the seat. I had my Mavic and it's gear in a small backpack which I stowed in a hard side, wheeled carry-on. It fit easily in the overhead.

The Gate woman said we would NOT be on the flight if we didn't comply with her orders. My wife took off and got on board. I waited at the gate and tried to explain that her bag fit easily under the seat. She wouldn't listen and threatened to remove her and me.

I didn't want to argue, and thought if I told her it's not legal to check lipos into baggage, that would certainly end with us kicked off. She put a claim sticker on my bag and kicks it down the baggage slide. It hit the ground hard. I dreaded what might have happened to my drone.

What really pisses me off, is American Airlines charges $25.00 for each checked bag, hence people pack way too much in carry-on. We each had one checked bag, and one carry-on. Her checked suitcase arrived missing its wheels. My forced check-on, my Mavic Pro, had damage to the gimbal, the clip and dome were both broken, and the gimbal was protruding out past the metal retaining clip.

Lesson here, at least in my case, I should have pulled the drone out of the hard case and checked the empty hard case. I would not fly on American Airlies again.

You could have simply removed you mavic from the carry on. Lets be fair as passengers we need to be more responsible for the amount of baggage we try and carry on. Why did you not consider the possible issues when you packed in the first place ? You would have saved yourself a lot of problems. The Airline agent would only be carrying out her duties in accordance the airline policy and if it doesn't suit us as passengers that doesn't give us the right to throw our toys out of the pram. Also with regard to 'Lipos' in the hold being illegal that is not strictly true although again as a passenger we to have a duty to inform staff of dangerous items. !

 

[RanD]

Though my experience does not involve a Mavic, it does have a common thread....wheeled carry-on luggage. On flights involving the puddle-jumpers (smaller jets), the overhead bins are not large enough for the typical "carry-on" bags with wheels that many travelers use. So, they tell you to gate check them. I've seen this on many flights in the US: Very large ladies purse, fine. Flexible suit bag, bring it. Backpack, of course! Anything with wheels - forget it. Lesson for me: Don't ever use a carry-on with wheels to hold anything important.

 

[Reflex439]

When I was traveling to China on a business trip (commercial photographer), I had a carefully packed camera case that if it didn't go on carry on, I wasn't taking the flight. At the gate, the attendant told me to check the legal size carry on (verified multiple times and places). I tried to explain but she just ignored me. So I opened the carry on, took out a shoulder bag I packed inside, and moved nearly everything in to the shoulder bag and checked the empty carry on. It wasn't convenient, but there was no way I was going to check $25K of equipment that was packed for carry on.

It might make sense to pack a similar bag inside carry on for important items just in case. It saved me on this flight.

 

[Fplvert]

The airline regulations are clear, you may have a carry-on if within limits. Write AA a letter. You'll get compensated.

Thanks, and I did send them an E-Mail on our last connecting flight home. Not only was my literally "kicked off the gateway" Mavic damaged, my wife's four wheeled hard side checked bag arrived as a tripod that won't stand up anymore!

The joke among the passengers at the carrousel was the reason it took so long for the baggage to arrive was they were shoving clothes back in the bags they broke. One of our friend's bag arrived with no handle and had black grease on the front from something.

It was also departing from Dallas Fort Worth, Texas. A old 737 with the tiny video displays about every sixth row. You know the ones that offer "free wifi" because most people would rather use their phones, tablets or laptops than watch the airlines choice of infomercials and TV. They actually charge $24.95 per day for this free service.

Overall, I'd rate AA as my last choice of Carriers. Besides, Delta goes to Puna Cana! I really liked the people there.

 

[Fplvert]

When I was traveling to China on a business trip (commercial photographer), I had a carefully packed camera case that if it didn't go on carry on, I wasn't taking the flight. At the gate, the attendant told me to check the legal size carry on (verified multiple times and places). I tried to explain but she just ignored me. So I opened the carry on, took out a shoulder bag I packed inside, and moved nearly everything in to the shoulder bag and checked the empty carry on. It wasn't convenient, but there was no way I was going to check $25K of equipment that was packed for carry on.

It might make sense to pack a similar bag inside carry on for important items just in case. It saved me on this flight.

Absolutely great advice, and yes, it happened again in the same airport on our return flight!

I pulled out my Mavic in the small backpack and let them check the hard case. Lesson learned, albeit the hard way.

 

[Fplvert]

You could have simply removed you mavic from the carry on. Lets be fair as passengers we need to be more responsible for the amount of baggage we try and carry on. Why did you not consider the possible issues when you packed in the first place ? You would have saved yourself a lot of problems. The Airline agent would only be carrying out her duties in accordance the airline policy and if it doesn't suit us as passengers that doesn't give us the right to throw our toys out of the pram. Also with regard to 'Lipos' in the hold being illegal that is not strictly true although again as a passenger we to have a duty to inform staff of dangerous items. !

Checked-in or Carry-on?
First of all it is very important that LiPo batteries MUST be carried on with you on board the aircraft and CAN NOT be placed in checked in luggage! Swift change in temperature and air pressure make LiPo batteries susceptible to catching fire.

[...]

I have been reading threads of discussion online debating if you should declare that you are traveling with LiPo-s when passing through the security inspection. Some reported having no problems even when questioned about the nature of the batteries and even friendly TSA personnel asking them if it is fun to fly quadcopters. At the same time, any Lithium based battery pack falls under IATA Dangerous Goods Regulations involving the shipment of lithium-based batteries on passenger and cargo aircraft. So if you use common sense, you must agree that not declaring things that are classified as dangerous goods is NOT a good idea. You can stretch your luck but don’t think that your LiPo-s will not be seen during screening. Also, please don’t blame me if you follow my advice and still get declined to travel with your batteries. If it happens, it will definitely not be because you declared them.

Quantities
The quantity permitted is based on watt-hours (Wh). Wh establishes the lithium content by multiplying voltage with the ampere-hours (Ah). For example, 14.40V x 5Ah battery = 72Wh.

The current IATA dangerous goods regulations and your rights as passenger to carry the LiPos with you in carry-on luggage but not in your checked luggage. There are 3 classes of LiPo batteries. Below 100Wh there are no quantity restrictions as to the amount of batteries you can carry. Between 100Wh and 160Wh you are limited to two battery packs total per passenger. Above 160Wh you are not permitted to carry the packs as carry-on.

Avoiding short circuit
As another safety precaution, though this might not be mandatory according to flight safety regulations is to avoid short circuiting the batteries thus increasing the chance of fire hazard. This is fairly simple, all you need to do is to place each battery into an individual plastic bag. This will come in handy when labeling also, see below. You can also shrink wrap the battery connectors with saran wrap. This process only takes a few seconds and reduces the possibility of electrical arcing and moisture getting to the battery connectors.

[...]

LiPo Bags
Placing your batteries in LiPo safe bags is an absolute necessity, if you don’t have them, do not even attempt to carry them on board an aircraft. This is also for your safety. Of course you do not need to have a separate LiPo safe bag for each battery as you have also placed them in separate plastic bags as suggested above. But depending on the number and size of your batteries, be sure to have a bag with enough space for them all, or use multiple bags. This one is a good option, but you can buy larger ones also:

shareimprove this answer
I was trying to be reasonable and the gate attendant refused to listen. She put her hand in front of my face and told me she was gonna kick us off. I just shut-up and watched her kick my bird through the door to the tarmac. There wasn't time for me to do anything.

I was concerned that the lipos were being forcibly checked, but they were in their individual lipo-safe bags and had less than 50% charge.

As far as passengers being reasonable, the airline allows one carry-on and one personal item per passenger. It's not reasonable to assume that wouldn't be the case just because you aren't in boarding group 1-4!

 

[Fplvert]

Though my experience does not involve a Mavic, it does have a common thread....wheeled carry-on luggage. On flights involving the puddle-jumpers (smaller jets), the overhead bins are not large enough for the typical "carry-on" bags with wheels that many travelers use. So, they tell you to gate check them. I've seen this on many flights in the US: Very large ladies purse, fine. Flexible suit bag, bring it. Backpack, of course! Anything with wheels - forget it. Lesson for me: Don't ever use a carry-on with wheels to hold anything important.

This is also good advice.

I have flown many times with my Go Professional Phantom backpack as carry-on. It definitely would not fit under the seat.

Unfortunately, I don't think that would have made any difference on American Airlines in Texas. My Phantom wouldn't have survived that twenty foot fall either.

 

[Bryan Conover]

To be fair, she didn't force you to check your mavic. According to her (right or wrong), your bag was too big. Why didn't you just take the drone out and carry it on?

And the coin drops. This isn't a item issue, it's a baggage size issue.

 

[mark_t]

Checked-in or Carry-on?

LiPo Bags
Placing your batteries in LiPo safe bags is an absolute necessity, if you don’t have them, do not even attempt to carry them on board an aircraft. This is also for your safety. Of course you do not need to have a separate LiPo safe bag for each battery as you have also placed them in separate plastic bags as suggested above. But depending on the number and size of your batteries, be sure to have a bag with enough space for them all, or use multiple bags. This one is a good option, but you can buy larger ones ...

This part is not correct.

The so called 'lipo safe' bags are not required by the IATA rules, nor are they even necessarily a good idea as they encourage people to pack multiple packs in the same bag where they cannot easily be checked or observed.