What are the dangers and risks involved with pets flying in the cargo compartment of commercial airlines?
What is the success rate? What are the chances of something going wrong?
No pet can travel in the cargo hold unless it is temperature regulated and the dangers /risks are the same as any luggage… Being mis directed onto another flight so lost.
I used to fly taking my dog and certainly having to book her in and leave her crated in the care of the someone else gave me anxiety, not knowing/seeing if she was on the flight/ worried about delays in the flight time… I was always pleased to see her the other end
The chances of something going wrong are minuscule, but if the plane encounters a problem which necessitates the dropping of oxygen masks in the passenger compartment the pilot hits the F T Dogs switch which decompresses the cargo compartment and redirects air pressure to the passenger compartment.
Since I did not know all about the dangers of a dog in cargo, I googled your question. Lots more information than what can be typed out on this site.
On here you don't know if you are being trolled or not. We're strangers, children & trolls. For the safety of your dog contact the airlines you will be flying on & they can tell you how your dog will do in cargo.
I had a layover in Salt Lake City, going from NM to Montana. A crate would have fit in the cargo but when I left Salt Lake City, the place was a smaller plane & a crate would not fit in cargo. I got a letter from my Psychiatrist for her to be my ESA & she flew with me in the cabin. But I think she would have been more comfortable in a crate in cargo. There just isn't enough room for a dog her size. Leg space was so small she could even get into the seating area. They had to move us around to different sitting to have room for her to sit at my feet. Female Dalmatian.
Dangers are a failure of the environmental controls. The forward baggage compartment is to be pressurized just like the passenger compartment is above. If pressurization fails then the animals will die or suffer permanent brain damage from prolonged lack of oxygen.
There's also a danger of the animal being dropped or falling from a conveyor belt. Thousands of animals are shipped every year and most of them arrive without incident. Transportation.gov publishes monthly Air Travel Consumer Reports that include animal deaths by airline. (United is the worst.)
I'd suggest that you google the question and come to your own conclusion.
My ONLY experience was when my sister had her dog flown (she was on the same plane) from Tampa, FL to Las Vegas, a stop in Baltimore (oddly). When they brought the dog to her it wasn't her dog. Tags had gotten switched. She found her dog in Detroit, badly dehydrated.
No more risk than for you, just no passenger seats in that compartment.
Success rate is the same for human passengers.
- Boeing 737 Baggage/Cargo Loading Sheet? I need a B737 (400+ series) loading sheet for baggage. Not the pilots sheet but the one that ramp agent leads use. I forget to photocopy some while working at the airport recently with Swissport.
- What airlines still accept 700 series crates as cargo? Were moving to Hawaii from the East Coast in a few months and have everything taken care of except flying our 70lb lab. With all the calculations she requires a 700 series crate, which almost no airline within a 5 hour drive of us accepts. Does anybody know of any that will allow her to fly?
- Flying Basic Economy with United and American Airlines? I booked two round tickets but didn't realize they were basic economy. They will be 4 hour long trips and I was wondering if it was as bad as they say? Or would anyone recommend an upgrade? It's my first time flying and United doesn't allow carry on bag is that bad? American Airlines does allow it.
- I got a questions, does the NTSB get involved with a crash involving Airbus? In another country, but lets say it's a US based airline? I'm trying to know if the NTSB would still investigate an Airbus crash in another country, if it was the Airbus aircraft was operating for a United States based airline. I know they would if it was a Boeing aircraft (Since it's american made)