A333, Sydney Australia, 2017

A333, Sydney Australia, 2017

Summary

On 17 December 2017, it was discovered after completion of an Airbus A330-300 passenger flight from Sydney to Bejing that freight loading had not been correctly documented on the load and trim sheet presented to and accepted by the Captain and as a result, the aircraft had exceeded its certified MTOW on departure. The Investigation found that the overload finding had not been promptly reported or its safety significance appreciated, that the error had its origin in related verbal communications during loading and noted that the aircraft operator had since made a series of improvements to its freight loading procedures.

Description

On 17 December 2017, an Airbus A330-300 (VH-QPD) being operated by Qantas on a scheduled international passenger flight from Sydney to Beijing as QF107 was found on arrival to have freight on board which was not as documented, the effect of which was to have made the aircraft takeoff weight in excess of that permitted.

Investigation

After a three-week delay in Qantas’ identification of the significance of the event report they had received from their Beijing freight agent and therefore their recognition that the event needed to be reported to the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), a report was submitted and an Investigation was then carried out. Having determined that on this occasion, there had been no actual compromise to the operational safety of the flight involved, the scope of the Investigation was thereafter confined to a detailed examination of the loading process prior to the flight.

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