"Sits on Tail"
Early 70's MAN. A slight ground shudder outside the general aviation apron / BEA cargo centre. I went out of the office, to find a Merchantman with its nose facing skyward, and the tail sitting firmly on the ground. A netted loaded pallet had been pushed though the front loading door, and pushed back through the a/c. Without the foresight of a "Tail stay" to keep the a/c firmly on the ground, the loaders required an immediate change of underwear After a damage assessment, it was decided that a volunteer crew should be sought to flight the a/c at lower than normal flight level to LHR for repair. I remember a "Mega crane" being hired, with a sling being fitted to the front of the a/c in order that the nose wheel didn't come down with a bang. Did we learn from this ? as the Americans say "Hell No" The same thing happened again a week or so later, with a further Merchantman sitting on it tail on the domestic pier apron ( due to LHR diversions ). This time I think some kindly employee had removed the tail stay to use on another Merchantman..
I remember a similar problem when working at FRA with the TU134, Aeroflot would bring a loadmaster with them on the a/c and have the cargo delivered to a/c for their instruction on loading. I think the TU154 had a similar problem ?
Lance Shippey