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Did Government Paperwork Really Weigh Down Airliner?

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Rachel Martin. Washington, D.C., is rife with bureaucracy. You know what comes along with that? Documents written on paper, lots and lots of paper, which can really weigh you down - or your airplane. An American Airlines flight was about to take off from D.C. when the pilot announced that the plane was overweight, and they had to offload 1,400 pounds of government documents. An airport spokesman says the pilot may have been kidding, but the metaphor, quite frankly, is too good to pass up. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.