Here's the section of the report that deals with the issue of weight.
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16.1.2.1 Flight Planning
The preparation of flight AFR 4590 began at 09 h 12. The dispatcher’s work screen indicated QFU 27. In addition, the non-availability of thrust reverser 2 led to a reduction of 2.5% in the maximum weight in operation.
Based on data on the wind (a twelve kt headwind), the QNH (low, 1008 hPa), the temperature (higher than the norm) and the usable length of the runway, the dispatcher calculated the maximum weight as 177,930 kg. However, flight preparation showed a takeoff weight of 184,800 kg with the one hundred passengers checked in.
At about 09 h 30, the dispatcher informed the duty officer of the weight problem, without however specifying the QFU used for the calculation. The duty officer first thought of using another aircraft, then tried to resolve the technical problem with the reverser and finally thought of loading the baggage onto another flight.
On his side, the dispatcher studied two hypotheses for routes (one direct and one with an optional technical stop) and loading so that the flight could take place in terms of its weight.
A little before 10 h 00, the crew called the dispatcher who informed them of the problem. The crew informed him that they had asked for the replacement of the failed pneumatic motor on reverser 2, asked him to file a direct ATC flight plan and told him that they were going to take over the flight preparation themselves.
(Note: work had been under way on runway 27 for three weeks. The instructions to assist flight preparation stated that they should “favour (runway 27) for Concorde, because of noise pollution”, runway 26 being used only “exceptionally”. However, information relating to the runway configurations, in particular runway length, was available.)
The meteorological data used by the dispatcher were not archived. No directives instructed him to do so. The preparation undertaken by the crew was not archived either. The technical investigators therefore redid the calculations with the flight dispatcher, using the meteorological data of the day of the accident, runway 26 right and without the technical restriction due to the reverser. In these conditions, the estimated takeoff weight come out at 184,802 kg for a MTOW of 185,070 kg.
16.1.2.2 Flight Departure
It was impossible to discover whether the crew took possession of the flight dossier, even though it had become redundant. The load sheet, including the fuel loading sheet and the Captain’s signature, was not found.
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[ 24 August 2001: Message edited by: stagger ]