Can I Take My Avalanche Airbag on the Plane?

Henry

4 days ago4 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Skiing Unlocked breaks down the dos and don'ts of taking avalanche safety gear - including airbags - on planes.

More and more people are getting into backcountry and off-piste skiing, the post-pandemic period seeing an explosion in participation numbers. With this comes a rise in people buying, using and travelling with avalanche safety gear.

Everyone knows that travelling by plan can be stressful; luggage weight limits, restrictions on what you can and can’t carry in your hold or hand luggage, and the high pressure environments of travelling through airports can all add up.

This guide is designed to help you travel with your avalanche safety gear easily and safely. It will look at the two major categories of safety gear; avalanche airbags, and conventional rescue gear including transceiver, shovel and probe.

This is Skiing Unlocked’s guide to travelling with avalanche safety gear on planes.

Conventional Gear

“Conventional” avalanche safety gear includes a transceiver, shovel – split into shovel head and shovel handle – and a collapsible probe. These are designed to fit into a backpack, to be carried around on the slopes in case of an emergency.

But despite their handy size and shape for transporting in backpacks, it is important to know that you cannot carry shovel heads, handles or probes in your carry on luggage – they have to be carried in your hold luggage.

IATA rules – that govern many things to do with travelling by air, including the baggage restrictions we’re all so familiar with – state that you cannot carry any bludgeoning items in your carry on luggage for, hopefully, obvious safety reasons.

All conventional avalanche safety gear falls into this category, being the right size and shape to potentially cause problems if used for ill means on board the plane. Therefore, they must be carried in your hold luggage – suitcase or ski bag, it doesn’t matter, as long as it’s checked in!

The same goes for travelling with snow saws, hopefully for obvious reasons. They must be carried in your hold luggage.

Conducting an isolated column test (ICT) to test snowpack stability. — Your avalanche shovel must be carried in checked baggage! Image Credit © Claudia Vicuna/Black Diamond

Avalanche Airbags

Travelling with avalanche airbags has long been a headache for equipment owners and users. Even the best-travelled skiers and snowboarders travelling through well-know skiing hubs have encountered issues with avalanche airbags.

Gas powered airbags are particularly tricky, so this first part will focus on them. The biggest problem when travelling with gas powdered airbags is that, generally, you are not permitted to travel with loaded gas canisters at all – IATA regulations, however, make an exception for avalanche airbags, but this does mean that some airport staff are caught out and don’t always remember these exceptions.

The best advice when travelling with full gas avalanche airbag gas canisters is to fully separate them from the explosive detonator, placing them in separate plastic bags; place these bags inside your avalanche backpack. For good measure, print off the IATA regulations relating to carriage of avalanche airbag canisters – available here – and have them placed in the bag.

Many airports ask you to declare the avalanche airbag to airport and airline staff before checking it in. Thus, keep it to the top of your suitcase so you can show it to them quickly and easily!

Two skiers bootpacking along a ridge in the high mountains. — Battery avalanche backpacks, such as the Black Diamond JetForce backpack shown here, normally must be carried in hold luggage; gas canister airbags in hold luggage, well prepared. Image Credit © Claudio Vicuna/Black Diamond

Other Notes

Some airlines don’t allow the carriage of full gas canisters at all. This includes all US airlines, as well as all flights travelling to or from the USA. Whilst IATA rules mean that airlines should carry your airbag without prejudice, fundamentally it is still left to the discretion of airlines and governing agencies to decide whether they want to carry them or not.

Empty gas canisters are not normally subject to the same scrutiny, and there are far less rules surrounding the carriage of empty canisters – whether for airbags or more generally. It might be worth flying with empty ganisters and refilling or replacing them once at your destination.

There generally is no rhyme or rhythm as to when you might “fall foul” of regulations; I’ve had really well travelled colleagues, seasoned snowsports professionals travel with gas canisters and 9/10 times its fine, but they’ve missed flights at Birmingham and had the canisters confiscated at Zurich and Tokyo, both key winter destinations, because staff aren’t familiar with rules or protocols surrounding them.

Travelling with electric, battery powered airbags is simpler. Generally, they have to be carried in hand luggage, as spare batteries or devices with batteries (including laptops and transceivers) aren’t permitted in hold luggage in case they malfunction.

The check-in zones at London Heathrow Terminal 5 — As with all journeys by plane, a little bit of planning and preparation goes a long way.

Final Thoughts

You may not have thought much about flying with your avalanche safety gear, but there are lots of regulations surrounding them. Make sure you pack things properly and carry them in the right luggage – checked or carry-on – to make sure they get to their destination in one piece!