2024-05 · NASA ASRS report 2124255
Air carrier flight crew reported the undocumented transport of a gas generator which contained gas. The gas generator was not processed in accordance with company Hazmat procedures and not discovered until destination arrival.
The aircraft arrived at the gate 15 minutes prior to departure time. I went down to do my walk around as normal and when getting around to the forward cargo compartment; I had just noticed they were just beginning to load in the first bags. I noticed a long golf club looking bag and then underneath a generic red cardboard box with no words on the side. I continued my walk around as normal. No rampers had said anything to me about the box. We loaded and got ready to push. Unfortunately we had no contact with our ramp controllers by headset at this time. We pushed and were on our way. At approximately 20-25;000 feet the CA had leaned over and asked me if I smelled something. In which I told her yes. We both agreed it smelled like a faint gasoline smell. We checked a report to see if there was any record of any unusual package on board. She called back to the FAs (Flight Attendants) and asked if anyone was in the bathroom or had sprayed anything in the bathroom at that time. The FAs had said no one was in the bathroom and that they had not smelled anything. We called them back approximately 10-15 minutes later after the smell had dissipated to check on the FAs. The Aft FA had told us it was a faint smell of sulfur. Everything continued as normal. The gas smell returned when waiting at the T for rampers to park us just briefly. The next crew was already there so I didn't go down for my post flight walk around. When I exited the aircraft a lady and her young son were waiting for a stroller so I went down to grab that from the cargo compartment. At the time I had noticed only a few bags were off and the red cardboard box was on our plane. With only a quick glance now seeing it was some sort of large tool. In the van on the way to the hotel we were notified that there was a checked gas generator on board and there was no record of it.
In ZZZ; without the crews knowledge; rampers loaded a TSA checked box into the cargo bin which contained a gas generator with gas in it. In the climb out of ZZZ; both pilots smelled a faint smell of gasoline but was unsure of what the smell was. I checked a report again to confirm there was nothing unordinary in the cargo compartments and there was nothing listed other than bags. I called the flight attendants and asked if they smelled anything and they both said they did not in either the front or back of the cabin. The smell dissipated in no more than 10 minutes. I called the flight attendants back and asked if everything was still normal and the aft flight attendant said she smelled a faint smell of sulfur. For the remaining of the flight there was no smell. After landing in ZZZ1 airport; while waiting for the rampers to park; both pilots smelled the faint smell of gas again. The crew was not aware of the gas generator in the forward van until the company reached out us in the van on the way to the hotel.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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