Posted by Anliv in response to my speculation:
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.
Thank you, I appreciate the information. I've learnt something... It's been a good day.
In response to another comment from PM:
As it is not possible to diagnose G of G position from a seeing the pitch attitude of an aircraft, as you have tried to
Yes, almost certainly the case with most (powered) aircraft because SOP dictates that it remains within certain conservative limits. From where I come from (gliding), bringing the C of G to the rear of the range can and does happen at times for operational and performance reasons. Changes in glider pitch and handling behaviour which happens when this is done is sometimes apparent to the astute observer. I was reminded of that when viewing the first seconds of the video; hence my musings - no harm intended. I do also recall several sad instances where, due either to load shift or incorrect loading of pax or cargo, things have turned out very badly. Nevertheless, thanks for your challenge Pilot Mike - point taken - we fly in different disciplines; sometimes operational considerations overlap, sometimes (most times?) they don't. I'll back out return to my afternoon nap.