focus to shift from weight to WX
As quoted in AOPA AVIATION eBRIEF dated March 24, 2009:
"As federal investigators began looking into Sunday's deadly crash of a Pilatus PC-12, the focus appeared to shift from weight to weather. Officials said the single-engine airplane passed through a layer of air that was conducive to icing, similar to conditions in Buffalo, N.Y., last month that may have contributed to a commercial crash that killed 50. An AOPA spokesman told the Christian Science Monitor that weight issues would have been evident upon takeoff, while the Montana crash occurred just before landing. "For an accident to take place at the end of a flight, in general, would seem to be indicative that the plane was not over gross and the weight and center of gravity were within tolerances," he said"