One thing that Herman did not mention, is the Captain is in charge of everything.
And these are my experiences pre-911 (~'99-'03). I was frequently flying form Munich to New York to visit Brookhaven (sounds like a tourist). My SOP included to figure out who the Captain on a particular flight was and ensure that he/she received a Fax ahead of time with the information from the TSA equivalent guys and describing what and why I'm taking the dewar on the plane. Stubborn as I am, I delayed a flight once from Munich to New York because the captain was not informed, after 2 hours I managed to convince him to allow me to take the dry shipper as carry on. And he received the late fax from the office confirming my story. In the end when we were in the air he came over and just pointed out he could have refused me traveling on that plane - independent if anybody else ahead of him had cleared the dewar. It had a very nasty (supersticky) label from our friends at the Deutsche Zoll indicating it has been controlled and is safe to be on a plane etc. he couldn't care less was his reply to that. This was with Lufthansa, I also tried Delta and had no problems maybe 10 times or so. I would not fly anymore with a dewar to US or even in US, some people have their fingers too close to a trigger for my taste (and it almost seems common practice to shot first and ask questions perhaps later). Fedex works well also internationally (although I have no personal experience with that, however Ron Stenkamp would frequently send stuff to SLS from Seattle without much hassle). Just my 3 cents, Jürgen On Apr 18, 2012, at 3:46 AM, <herman.schreu...@sanofi.com<mailto:herman.schreu...@sanofi.com>> <herman.schreu...@sanofi.com<mailto:herman.schreu...@sanofi.com>> wrote: Hi Frank, if you really want to personally take the dewar with you, here are my 2 cts (it is from a few years back, we send the dewars now by fedex): Just tossing the dewar on the check-in belt is not a good idea. It is a roulette with ever increasing odds that the dewar will not enter the plane and only after a lot of negotiations and some luck will arrive with the next flight (it happened to me). Since you are a single person and the airport security/airlines are big bureaucratic entities, you have no choice but to use bureaucracy as well to get through. Here is the SOP my colleagues had put in place and which works: 1) call airport security a few days ahead explaining what you want to do. If you found the right person, send him a fax/email, preferably as officially-looking as possible (minimum letterhead of your institution) that you will bring a cryogenic case, which is non-toxic, non-flammable no bio-hazard etc. and not dangerous, not restricted, as per IATA special provision A152. Ask them to confirm your fax/email in writing. 2) put copies of your letter (on institution letterhead), of the response of the airport security, a copy of the IATA special provision A152 and some instructions that although the dewar is not dangerous, one should not touch the inside for risk of cold burns, inside the dewar so they find it when they decide to open it. 3) take the same copies with you and go well-ahead in time to the airport, so you have at least one hour to get the dewar through. Here Murphies law applies: if you have enough time, everything goes quickly and you have to hang around, if you have little time, you will not get through in time. Show all your documents to the security officer, take his or hers concerns very seriously, welcome it if the person decides to call a supervisor and explain that the very important experiments inside the dewar will lead to a huge benefit to makind. 4) For the US, you probable need some more official documents stating that there are no agricultural products etc. inside the dewar. Here I would contact the US customs or consult some websites. Good luck! Herman PS: in your case, I would consider sending them by fedex -----Original Message----- From: CCP4 bulletin board [mailto:CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK] On Behalf Of Frank von Delft Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 9:04 PM To: CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK<mailto:CCP4BB@JISCMAIL.AC.UK> Subject: Re: [ccp4bb] Checking in dry shippers? Hi, thanks for all responses. Most people suggested avoiding the scenario altogether, which was cute but not the question. Answers below the original question: On 17/04/2012 15:59, Frank von Delft wrote: Hi, what's the latest on flying with dry shippers? Until about 2009, I used to fly with dry shippers all the time: I just tossed them (dry!) on the check-in belt, and the airlines didn't mind. But that was only London-Zurich, using BA or SwissAir. Anybody know if this still works, especially flying to the US? Or have the securocrats now secured total victory? Any airlines / airports to avoid? phx. Harry: for a trouble free journey with your dry shipper, I'd say avoid any airlines that are flying to the States, and avoid any airports in the States.... Herb: We ship by FedEx ahead of time rather than try to bring on commercial passenger flight. It may be possible to do so but it's just not worth the hassle of running into an unexpected problem. Liz: For what its worth I always use a courier because i didnt think you could fly with them as luggage. THats between here and Berlin. Marko: no idea about flying to US, but Easyjet has been ok still to Lyon etc. We have designated contact at the airline, she approves the dewar, although the final decision is with guy in the uniform (pilot). Stanstead is ok as well, we simply call the security at airport, they as for a form by fax and ask to speak to supervisor when going through security. Doubt they let the dewar inside though, and hence the latter deal with airport security - I carry the dewar to the plane myself, so it is upright at least until it leaves the plane at the other end. Kris: If you are returning and the dewar has no samples, it is just a box. It will get X-rayed and forwarded to the cargo area. I generally keep it closed with zip ties so that no one can place anything in it without my permission. Also, remove all hazardous, flamable, or cryogenic stickers. ...................... Jürgen Bosch Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute 615 North Wolfe Street, W8708 Baltimore, MD 21205 Office: +1-410-614-4742 Lab: +1-410-614-4894 Fax: +1-410-955-2926 http://web.mac.com/bosch_lab/
