The tale of Air Midwest Express Flight 5481 from Jan 2003 might also interest you, if you haven't come across it. The aircraft crashed due in part to the fact that while the weight and centre of gravity were within limits according to average weight values approved by the FAA, it was actually overweight and with a CoG aft of the allowable limit. As a result, the FAA standards were revised. Until that point, they were using the average weight of an American as defined in 1936.