Narrative:

Uncontained declared dangerous goods loaded on aircraft. Undetected on two previous flights. Improper handling of dangerous goods prior to being loaded on aircraft. The pallet in question was loaded in ZZZ before being flown ZZZ-ZZZ1; ZZZ1-ZZZ2; ZZZ2-hnl. The pallet in question was located in station D right in the aircraft. The aircraft skid was secured in the section and upon the skid were stacked wooden shipping pallets containing the powdery declared dangerous goods. During the stacking process on the aircraft skid (I am assuming this took place in ZZZ); it appears as if one of the wooden shipping pallets; upon which was a cardboard and plastic overpack containing the dangerous goods; became pierced three times and the distance between piercings as well as the size of the holes is coincident with the tips of a fork lift. There had to be immediate spillage onto the skid at this time during the skid building and netting process. This skid was subsequently loaded onto the aircraft after being constructed as the powder leaked from the piercings. This pallet was allowed to be loaded in an uncontained state. Powder spilled from the pallet onto the floor of the aircraft as the skid was being loaded and was allowed to spill onto the aircraft floor from the main cargo door; all the way up the right side of the aircraft to the position D right in which it was securely locked. There it continued to spill onto the floor; the skid upon which the wooden shipping pallets were stacked as well as the skid in position C right immediately forward of the skid in question.after the loading process; the flight crew that operated the flight from ZZ1-ZZZ2 failed to see the spillage during their preflight inspection of the cargo. The flight crew that operated the flight from ZZZ1-ZZZ2 failed to see the spillage during their preflight inspection of the cargo. The flight crew that operated the flight from ZZZ2-hnl failed to see the spillage during their preflight inspection of the cargo. You could clearly see the substance from the main walkway down the left side of the aircraft even though the skid in question was loaded on the right side. It was evident immediately if one was to inspect properly. Once the problem was discovered; maintenance and the local load master was notified and a logbook entry was made. Dispatch was notified and they requested we stay on the aircraft until the point at which we reached our time for maximum duty day allowing for the flight to be completed. At that point; the flight crew returned to the hotel and commenced post duty rest. The failure came from improper handling and damaging the packaging of a dangerous good; subsequent loading of said damaged dangerous good; and the failure of flight crews on three revenue flights to detect the spillage of the dangerous good.upon arrival [the next day] I; as the 3rd pilot performed my exterior; main deck; and upper deck preflight duties. The flight had been cancelled the previous day due to uncontained dangerous goods and subsequent spillage of the dangerous goods onto the floor of the aircraft in section dr. Today; I inspected the main deck cargo as yesterday and found that there was still a substantial amount of the dangerous goods substance in the area immediately adjacent to dr in cr. I pointed this out to the mechanic at the station where there was a conversation about how they 'forgot to clean that area' which made no sense; as the aircraft had to be unloaded to clean the floor and area around dr as well as remove the dr skid from the aircraft. What the station employees did not do was remove the skids forward of dr from the aircraft to clean under that area as well since it too was affected by the cargo spill from yesterday. I informed the captain and he immediately called dispatch after making a log book entry. Dispatch urged us to take the aircraft and at that point; the captain asked to speak to the duty manager. Once connected with the duty manager; that person informed us that the aircraft would certainly be cleaned in [a down line station] (which would be two more flights in the future from the one planned this morning). That individual urged us to take a contaminated aircraft on a revenue flight to ZZZ3 knowing that there was a contamination issue. At this point; the captain asked to speak with a chief pilot to relay all of the happenings so far during the preflight inspection. After deciding that we were not taking the aircraft anywhere until the problem was addressed and solved; the station employees began to clean the floor in the affected areas. These employees were wearing shorts; uniform shirts; tennis shoes. They were using bottled water from the galley; paper towels; their hands and fingernails to remove the hazardous materials from the floor. When this was discovered; we made a phone call to the dangerous goods hotline and asked if the station employees had been properly trained and equipped for hazmat spill cleanup. The good people at the dangerous goods hotline could neither say yes or no when asked this question. There was no respirator or gloves being used. The employees were using their bare hands and I'm assuming they didn't know any better. Once the preliminary cleaning was complete; I inspected again where I still found the substance in the cargo locks and along the rail system in the affected area. I pointed this out to the station employees once more and they continued their cleaning. After the second cleaning of the day; I inspected and found that the floor appeared to be as clean and free of the contaminant as one could inspect. I am not trained in the cleaning and removal procedures for hazmat; but I am aware just from watching that whatever procedures the company has in place were not followed. I also know that anyone in a managerial role has no business whatsoever urging a flight crew to move an airplane with a known contamination issue from an uncontained hazmat event. Their saying that the plane would be cleaned in ZZZ4 was completely bogus and negligent. I felt like the response from the duty manager was unprofessional and dangerous. I felt that the ground personnel in phnl were placed in a dangerous position as they were not properly equipped (and it appeared that they weren't properly trained) to be performing the cleaning required to remove the hazmat from the aircraft. The plane did eventually fly to ZZZ3 with a delay.the company needs to actually use the procedures and policies that were approved when handling the removal and clean up of dangerous goods from aircraft. The duty manger that was on duty this morning should be made aware of their ineptitude with regard to professionalism and system safety and perhaps have some remedial training themselves. We as pilots are forced each day to do our job; adhering to the approved procedures as closely as possible. Having a manager tell a flight crew that we need to ignore those policies to move airplanes for the benefit of the company is inexcusable.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier flight crew reported a HAZMAT spill identified in preflight and then the improper handling of the HAZMAT clean up.

Narrative: Uncontained declared dangerous goods loaded on aircraft. Undetected on two previous flights. Improper handling of dangerous goods prior to being loaded on aircraft. The pallet in question was loaded in ZZZ before being flown ZZZ-ZZZ1; ZZZ1-ZZZ2; ZZZ2-HNL. The pallet in question was located in station D Right in the aircraft. The aircraft skid was secured in the section and upon the skid were stacked wooden shipping pallets containing the powdery declared dangerous goods. During the stacking process on the aircraft skid (I am assuming this took place in ZZZ); it appears as if one of the wooden shipping pallets; upon which was a cardboard and plastic overpack containing the dangerous goods; became pierced three times and the distance between piercings as well as the size of the holes is coincident with the tips of a fork lift. There had to be immediate spillage onto the skid at this time during the skid building and netting process. This skid was subsequently loaded onto the aircraft after being constructed as the powder leaked from the piercings. This pallet was allowed to be loaded in an uncontained state. Powder spilled from the pallet onto the floor of the aircraft as the skid was being loaded and was allowed to spill onto the aircraft floor from the main cargo door; all the way up the right side of the aircraft to the position D Right in which it was securely locked. There it continued to spill onto the floor; the skid upon which the wooden shipping pallets were stacked as well as the skid in position C Right immediately forward of the skid in question.After the loading process; the flight crew that operated the flight from ZZ1-ZZZ2 failed to see the spillage during their preflight inspection of the cargo. The flight crew that operated the flight from ZZZ1-ZZZ2 failed to see the spillage during their preflight inspection of the cargo. The flight crew that operated the flight from ZZZ2-HNL failed to see the spillage during their preflight inspection of the cargo. You could clearly see the substance from the main walkway down the left side of the aircraft even though the skid in question was loaded on the right side. It was evident immediately if one was to inspect properly. Once the problem was discovered; Maintenance and the local Load Master was notified and a logbook entry was made. Dispatch was notified and they requested we stay on the aircraft until the point at which we reached our time for maximum duty day allowing for the flight to be completed. At that point; the flight crew returned to the hotel and commenced post duty rest. The failure came from improper handling and damaging the packaging of a dangerous good; subsequent loading of said damaged dangerous good; and the failure of flight crews on three revenue flights to detect the spillage of the dangerous good.Upon arrival [the next day] I; as the 3rd pilot performed my exterior; main deck; and upper deck preflight duties. The flight had been cancelled the previous day due to uncontained dangerous goods and subsequent spillage of the dangerous goods onto the floor of the aircraft in section DR. Today; I inspected the main deck cargo as yesterday and found that there was still a substantial amount of the dangerous goods substance in the area immediately adjacent to DR in CR. I pointed this out to the mechanic at the station where there was a conversation about how they 'forgot to clean that area' which made no sense; as the aircraft had to be unloaded to clean the floor and area around DR as well as remove the DR skid from the aircraft. What the station employees did not do was remove the skids forward of DR from the aircraft to clean under that area as well since it too was affected by the cargo spill from yesterday. I informed the captain and he immediately called dispatch after making a log book entry. Dispatch urged us to take the aircraft and at that point; the captain asked to speak to the Duty Manager. Once connected with the Duty Manager; that person informed us that the aircraft would certainly be cleaned in [a down line station] (which would be two more flights in the future from the one planned this morning). That individual urged us to take a contaminated aircraft on a revenue flight to ZZZ3 knowing that there was a contamination issue. At this point; the captain asked to speak with a chief pilot to relay all of the happenings so far during the preflight inspection. After deciding that we were not taking the aircraft anywhere until the problem was addressed and solved; the station employees began to clean the floor in the affected areas. These employees were wearing shorts; uniform shirts; tennis shoes. They were using bottled water from the galley; paper towels; their hands and fingernails to remove the hazardous materials from the floor. When this was discovered; we made a phone call to the dangerous goods hotline and asked if the station employees had been properly trained and equipped for hazmat spill cleanup. The good people at the dangerous goods hotline could neither say yes or no when asked this question. There was no respirator or gloves being used. The employees were using their bare hands and I'm assuming they didn't know any better. Once the preliminary cleaning was complete; I inspected again where I still found the substance in the cargo locks and along the rail system in the affected area. I pointed this out to the station employees once more and they continued their cleaning. After the second cleaning of the day; I inspected and found that the floor appeared to be as clean and free of the contaminant as one could inspect. I am not trained in the cleaning and removal procedures for hazmat; but I am aware just from watching that whatever procedures the company has in place were not followed. I also know that anyone in a managerial role has no business whatsoever urging a flight crew to move an airplane with a known contamination issue from an uncontained hazmat event. Their saying that the plane would be cleaned in ZZZ4 was completely bogus and negligent. I felt like the response from the Duty Manager was unprofessional and dangerous. I felt that the ground personnel in PHNL were placed in a dangerous position as they were not properly equipped (and it appeared that they weren't properly trained) to be performing the cleaning required to remove the hazmat from the aircraft. The plane did eventually fly to ZZZ3 with a delay.The company needs to actually use the procedures and policies that were approved when handling the removal and clean up of dangerous goods from aircraft. The Duty Manger that was on duty this morning should be made aware of their ineptitude with regard to professionalism and system safety and perhaps have some remedial training themselves. We as pilots are forced each day to do our job; adhering to the approved procedures as closely as possible. Having a manager tell a flight crew that we need to ignore those policies to move airplanes for the benefit of the company is inexcusable.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.