Originally Posted by
FullOppositeRudder
When I first saw one of the ATR 72s I speculated that with that long fuselage, there would need to be a fairly careful series of checks so as not to inadvertently shift the C of G outside of the safe operating range - especially the aft limit. It would seem ever more critical with the narrow chord wing. This one seems to have had a full list of passengers so there's nothing to see there in terms of passenger loading. However in the early stages of the video, the nose high position is suggestive of an ai rcraft at the aft C of G limit or beyond. No-one else has made any observation along these lines, so I'm typing very softly here - it seems likely that everything was in order there as it should be. And yet, I continue to wonder if something was overlooked. The report will tell us I'm sure.
A full ATR with bags will be quite nose heavy. The possibility of tail-tip does exist because boarding is thru the rear door. That is why at my airline we board the fwd zone (rows 1 to 9) first. An empty aircraft is ok to trim but the SLF will always want to sit at the rear (closer to the door) so we have to enforce seating discipline. The ATR72-500 is not particularly fussy as below image shows.
Anilv