Originally Posted by
Jhieminga
1,250 lb is 567 kg. MTOW is 1317 kg according to Wiki. Assume a hopper that's half full, say 300 kg and a total weight around 1200 kg. Dropping that load will give you 1200/(1200-300) = 1,3 G instantaneously. If we're using MTOW and a full hopper, it goes up to 1,76 G. Not a problem on its own, but it all adds up.
I have only flown pax to their destination, thus have sofar strived to arrived with the same payload as I departed with, so I am no expert.
Having said that, I believe the release of payload in flight would not lead to an increased G load on the aircraft. If we assume the aircraft maintains straight and level flight with no change in speed there cannot be any load change on the aircraft. In order to maintain that with a decrease in weight from dropping the load the pilot will have to reduce angle of attack, and that will reduce wing load, with a reduction of the load on the wing attachments, not increase it. If the pilot allows the aircraft to drift up because of the release of weight, he would experience that G load, but the wing attachments would not, as the lift produced by the aircraft would remain constant.
This looks like a case of the pilot pulling up too fast, and loading up the wing beyond what it could handle. That could be because the CG changes when dropping the load. And maybe the wing spar wasn't as strong as it should be.