Description

On 4 July 2009, an Airbus A332 being operated by Jetstar Airways on a scheduled passenger flight from Sydney to Melbourne carried a 750 kg ULD which had been expressly rejected by the aircraft commander during the loading operation without flight crew awareness. There was no reported effect on aircraft handling during the flight.

Investigation

An Investigation was carried out by the ATSB to establish the circumstances of the misloading since it was recognised that a similar chain of events was capable of having far more serious consequences.

The investigation established that the aircraft commander had decided to reject the subject ULD prior to it being loaded in the forward hold noting that it was not on the LIR (load instruction report) and had no associated paperwork or information about its contents. The decision was not made because of any likely conflict with the aircraft MTOM or loaded C of G. The decision of the aircraft commander was advised directly to the ramp supervisor who reported communicating it to the loading team. However, the instruction was not understood by all the personnel involved with the result that it was returned to the outgoing freight holding area of the departure gate and subsequently loaded into the aft hold of the aircraft. This action was found to have occurred without reference by the loading team to the LIR for the flight or on the basis of subsequent authority from the aircraft commander.