Development of an aircraft ventilation guide to minimize mortality risk in the international air transport of livestock

Summary

The export of live animals by air is a very small component of the livestock export industry accounting for only 0.31% of cattle, 0.26% of sheep and 50.33% of goat numbers exported during 2004-2005.  Mortality rates for air transport are not recorded, however the average mortality rate is extremely low.  It is for this reason that the majority of the livestock that are airfreighted are high value breeding or slaughter animals. Most livestock consignments are carried in the “bellyholds” of passenger aircraft.  In recent times, there have been three major incidents with excessive mortalities involving goats, deer and pigs and several “near incidents”.
The ventilation of aircraft is technically complex, and with the current lack of simple guidelines, exporters cannot hope to be conversant with aircraft ventilation specifications and the systems and controls required.
The industry through the LiveAir organisation wants to ensure that
ventilation on aircraft transporting livestock is not totally reliant on the airlines and ground staff. There needs to be a readily available and simple guide to assist ground crews, freight forwarders, air crew and exporters to assess the suitability of the various aircraft ventilation systems for a specific air consignment of livestock.
The variation to the project will increase the final payment from $23
,500 to $58,500 to cover unforeseen delays and difficulties in accessing and reviewing essential plane ventilation data from individual airlines.

It is incumbent on the livestock export industry to ensure the modes of transport used by the industry are safe and reliable, delivering an animal welfare outcome that meets expectations. In particular, shipment by aircraft has become a commercially desirable and viable mode of transport that is growing in demand.  Recent adverse airfreight incidents resulting in livestock mortality have threatened the low risk status of airfreighting livestock. These incidents were due to a variety of factors that have not previously been considered by the aviation industry. In particular, the aircraft ventilation capability varies greatly across model types from aircraft manufacturers, as it is specified by the airline/operator when the plane is ordered, or in subsequent modifications.

This project was initiated to determine the viability of developing a system to minimise the risks associated with variable ventilation capacity in aircraft. The intent of this project is to provide a software program to allow shippers/exporters to reduce these risks and satisfy AQIS and other interested stakeholders that relevant aspects of air travel have been considered and that the risk of livestock mortality is minimised.