The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is concerned that the soaring number of overweight and obese Americans may be threatening air safety.

The FAA has issued new instructions to commuter airlines to begin checking the weight of passengers instead of using guidelines set in 1995 that assumed adults weigh an average of 185 pounds including clothes and a 20-pound carry-on.

The communter airlines soon will begin asking passengers on the small planes to either step on a scale or report their weight. The airlines have been instructed to add 10 pounds to the weights of those self-reporting to account for cheating.

Investigators have raised the possibility that underestimating the weight of passengers may have played a role in a Jan. 8th commuter plane crash in North Carolina in which all 21 aboard were killed.

Other sources: FAA