Originally Posted by
mournlight
Regarding the cargo... Does the Captain get to review the cargo manifest? Does the Captain have any control over what's loaded/transported on his flight? If you saw there were pallets of batteries on board that you thought could be potentially hazardous, do you pull enough weight to protest and have them removed?
I have no idea what the shipping rules for HazMat are in Malaysia, but in the US of A, the Captain has to sign a Dangerous Goods shipping form, which lists the amount (in Kilos) and location of the dangerous cargo. After the UPS crash, the rules for carrying Lithium Batteries on board passenger planes changed.
As far as 'seeing' a pallet of batteries, as a pilot, you wouldn't even see it being loaded, as we are usually up in the cockpit while the cargo is being loaded, and the batteries would most likely be in (unmarked) cardboard boxes, so even if you were standing next to the pallet you might not know what was in the boxes.