Crash Helmets on Planes
 

I'm thinking of doing a fly ride trip to South Africa towards the end of this year. Before all the recent security scares I used to take my lid on the plane with me no problem, but BA (who I have to use) don't seem keen on this any more, although I got the feeling they said no because they weren't sure. It's not the storage space that will be a problem, I'll be flying Club.

Has anyone managed to get their lid on to a plane recently, or if this is not possible can anyone suggest some way of getting it there without the luggage handlers wrecking it?

Cheers

Richard

i understand they are looking at lifting the security restrictions for flights out of the uk of only one piece of carry on( including handbag laptop etc)(impossed be security not the airline). It should be a not problem at all?? that i can think of, at worst it would be counted as your "one piece" ??? Maybe ask someone else at the airline and see if the response is different? If you got a helmet bag ( i've seen them on line for 5-6 pounds and carried on like any other bag what would be the problem ???(how would they know) maybe ask the uk aviation security agency if you're allowed.... they're the one who will x-ray it and know what's inside the bag - and in turn would know of any restriction?

best of luck

You may have picked up on the news recently that it has become pretty complicated; the general advice handed out by the news programmes is to check with both the particular carrier/airline and the particular airport of departure because there are now different rules for each.

We have gone from a national single set of rules to a complexity of individual rules set by both the airport authorities and the airlines.
Why not put it in the hold luggage? - you don't need it in the cabin. That's where all of your knifes and other "offensive" equipment will have to be in any case.

It certainly didn't used to be a problem, I think that the airline have decided that a passenger might put on a lid to protect their head when they go bezerk on board...

Richard

a helmet is hardly the next hijackers weapon!!!
 

or maybe they think you've been watching too many episodes of LOST, and are afraid you'll scare all other passangers because they forgot to bring a crash helmet for the take off's and landings!!! :rofl:

No problems putting it (or them as the wife will be coming) in the hold, but they are too big to go in a conventional hard sided suitcase. I'd be interested in alternative ways to get the lids there without getting damaged. Baggage handlers simply do not give a flying wotsit about your property, and there's no guarantee that you lid won't get dropped, squashed or lost on the way- or all three!

Richard

Ah. stop press. Just got off the phone to BA, and they say now not a problem BUT I'd still like to hear from someone who has tried to do this recently because there's no repacking a lid at the airport...

Goes to show you eh? ask one person they think "mmmm no... out side of the box... to hard....so... no" ask another more reasonable person and they say yes. I had the same thing when i flew to the states from NZ for a ski trip. I booked with Air Tahiti, then looked at their website to see if they would charge me for the skis.... except for some reason Air Tahiti don't carry alot of skis!!!!!!:rolleyes2: i called they said no, not possible. i called again and someone asked.." are they any bigger than a surfboard? no? then no problem!"

Well good for BA but that still leaves the airport check-in desk and X-ray machine operators who are paid minimum wage on a short term/temporary contract in the height of summer to make things difficult for us.
(No offence to anyone doing the job - just the way it is!!)

ps that's the airport in both directions of course, assuming that you are coming back eventually.

No recent experience, but maybe try to get BA's response in a written form, i.e. email, so if needed you have something to show them in case you strike troubles at the airport. Phone conversations can easily be denied, but not an answer on paper.

I would be interested to know how you get on with this one. British airports are still the most anal despite the recent changes with the hand luggage restrictions but even still this should be ok. I saw some bikers flying in from the US before Christmas. Seemed like an odd time for a bike trip......

My bet for a helmet is that you could wear it on if the jobs worths really went to town on you. - it certainly won't fit in one of those hand luggage assessment frames and there seems a complete absence of sensible thought outside the box (or that frame even!).

Let's just hope nobody designs a helmet bomb - then we'll be stuffed.

Good luck.

Matt

Mmm, good point about getting it in writing. As has been pointed out, we in the UK are gradually going back to the two bits of hand luggage rules, so hopefully the screeners will be OK. What you DON'T want to do is let their American colleagues touch your stuff. They really do not care.

Dunno where those guys were going in the States, but I've just got back from So. Cal and Death Valley (how good were those roads?) and the temperatures would be perfect for biking. Pity I was in a sodpot car...

Richard

And as for hand luggage dimensions- max width allowed 25cm, my lid 25.2cm...:rolleyes2:

Richard

Nothing a rasp file wouldn't fix! ;) sorry! I've made at least 30 flights in the last few years and i always take a slightly oversized backpack on the plane and have never been asked to size it. There should be no worries.

I always ‘carry on’ my helmet as hand luggage when I fly; so does my pillion Ellen (my ‘partner’ in modern parlance terms). I use my tank bag as a carry on holder; Ellen uses her specially made padded container bag, which she bought at the NEC Motorcycle Show a couple of years ago for about 10 quid (USD $19). Any small personal effects that we think we might need ‘in flight’ (e.g. books, mags, toiletries, etc.) we put mainly inside our helmets.

Within the last couple of years I/we have flown and ‘carried on’ our lids (as hand luggage) with the following airline operators:

• Air New Zealand
• Virgin Atlantic
• Air Canada
• United Airline
• American Airlines …

… without any problems whatsoever.

In a few weeks’ time – on Sunday March-16 – we are both flying across the pond to the States from LHR with British Airways. Again, we’re not anticipating any trouble with treating our lids as ‘carry-on’ items, which once more will be enclosed in (1) my tank bag; and (b) her helmet holder - as per normal.

That's good news, thanks for the info.

Cheers

Richard

Flying Thai June 07 OZ to UK .. they said No to the hemut as carry on luggage .. said to take it as hold luggage ....

I took my helmet in its Arai helmet bag as hand luggage on BA and Air Malaysia recently. It was stated on the ticket that your were only allowed 1 piece of hand luggage but I also had a backpack with me too. They weren't too sure at the check in for Air Malaysia and said it was up to the security staff however no one said anything to me going through the scans etc and it wasn't a problem on the plane either.

Crash Helmet
 

If they say "No" to the helmet, hold up your backpack and say "What good is this parachute without the crash helmet??!!"

Here are the answers I got in '06 Australia to the States

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...t=helmet+carry

The heated vest went through fine. At least it gives you an idea.

Glen

Don't talk to me about the :censored:TSA- I'm all for security, but your personal property should be respected.

Looks like a little chutzpah goes a long way. Think a lid in a carry on bag will be my strategy.

Cheers

Reggie

I fly from London to Germany fairly regularly and always take my helmet with me, inside the tankbag. I has never been an issue neither with the airport security nor with the airline, it hasn't even been mentioned (I'm not flying with BA though).
I don't know on what grounds they could say no, I don't think motorbike helmets are on the list of forbidden dangerous goods.

Never a problem
 

I've recently flown with:
South African Airways to J'Burg & return to Oz
Qantas to Canada & return; US & return (twice)
Horizon Air - US domestic
Alaskan Air - US domestic

The helmet goes as hand luggage, and on each flight (except to Sth Africa, just the backpack) I have also carried my laptop in its carry case and a backpack.

The helmet travels in a (BMW) helmet carrier bag, usually stuffed with clothes or whatever.

I've never had any problems - nor any queries asked by anyone - but then again, I don't bother asking, beforehand, I just roll up and EXPECT to take it all as hand luggage! :clap:

Margaret
STILL in Ushuaia!:(

Tank Bags
 

You will have a lot more trouble with a Tank Bag as they say the round magnets look like explosives. Tried to get me to cut it open so they (US Customs) could look at it. Had to show them it sticks to metal and couldn't possibly be explosives. :funmeterno:

Glen

I flew to the States last year with one of the American airlines (forget which one). We took our helmets in a padded helmet bag as our single piece of cabin luggage. Everything else we wanted with us we just packed in and around the helmet.

I flew BA (cattle class) in and out of Gatwick in October (to Italy) and clearly had hand luggage in one hand, passport and ticket in the other and a Shoei bag slung over my shoulder, complete, obviously, with lid.:innocent:

I didn't get questioned or pulled up at anytime.

Sitting in BA plane now. Going through Miami. Hand bag and separate helmet in bag when boarding. No problems whatsoever.

So far never had an issue travelling with our helmets and bike gear as hand luggage.
Usually removing all the padding for the jackets and trousers but still wearing bike boots (although our Altberg boots look like hikking boots!).

Back from BAs 2008 - > no problem.

UK - VIetnam via Thailand 2010 back and forth-> no problem

Rio - Gunisson (via Houston and Denver) 2012 - > no problem mainly - Got our tubeless puncture repair kit removed at Gunisson airport on the way back from our hold luggage (because of the CO2 cannisters).

Cheers,

Well I can't imagine Helmut would be very comfortable in a locker anyway. Do the decent thing and pay for a seat!

I once bought a seat on Ryanair (after delivering a bike) for my lid. Buckled it in with the seatbelt, no worries.

Seriously though, the airlines will always say no if you ask them, but I've never been asked by an airline what is in my bag- as long as you get through security you'll be fine as I've been on at least 16 occasions.