A frequent flyer from Los Angeles sat in a window seat and watched airport staff load luggage into the plane. Then, they started packing strange yellow bags into the aircraft.
In a video with over 972,000 views, TikToker Hannah White (@hannah_white98) looks out onto the tarmac on a sunny day before takeoff.
She zooms in on airport workers placing the large yellow sacks onto a conveyor belt that leads to the airplane. The bags are labelled “Delta Air Lines.”
“Hey TikTok can someone who understands planes please explain what the heck they’re putting on my plane rn? Because it literally looks like 50 lb sandbags which makes no sense to me,” on-screen text reads.
The caption continued, “I feel like I fly a lot but I’ve never seen this before??”
Why Are Workers Loading Sandbags Into The Plane?
Airport workers explain that the mysterious sandbags are called “ballast bags” and are loaded into the plane to balance its weight. They are most commonly used in small airplanes that don’t have enough passengers to evenly spread weight throughout the craft.
According to airplane experts on the r/aviation subreddit, the ballast bags help maintain the plane’s center of gravity. This is especially important on smaller planes, which can be thrown off balance by passengers’ uneven weight distribution.
Ballast bags may also help keep the plane’s nose and tail even if there is a greater weight at one end or the other. This makes sure the plane has a smooth and safe takeoff and landing.
“The interesting thing is that even during flight, if all the passengers move to the front, for example, this affects the angle of the plane and needs to be corrected,” one explains.
Without ballast bags, they say some pilots may ask passengers to redistribute themselves throughout the plane to restore the center of gravity. So, loading ballast bags allows passengers to keep sitting in their desired seats.
What Do Viewers Think Of The Procedure?
While viewers understand why airlines pack sandbags into the plane, they question high baggage costs.
“And yet they complain about my 51 pound bag,” one wrote.
A second complained, “And yet they charged me bc my bag was 3 lbs over weight. Rude.”
“But we still get charged for weight overages…” a third added.
“Imagine the weight they’d have if they didn’t charge astronomical price for bags,” another commented.
Airport workers also weighed in, sharing how they feel about the necessary but labor-intensive task.
A commenter remarked, “I hate loading them s—.”
Another shared, “I put 3200 lbs of sand on a plane last week.”
@hannah_white98 I feel like I fly a lot but I’ve never seen this before?? #plane #fyp #question #lax
BroBible reached out to Delta Air Lines and White via email for further comment.