Tail-heavy cargo plane tips, strands seven LAX workers 40 feet up for about an hour

[747FOCAL]

Tail-heavy cargo plane tips, strands seven LAX workers 40 feet up for about an hour
Associated Press Newswires 05/27/04
Copyright 2004. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A cargo plane being unloaded at Los Angeles International Airport became unbalanced and tipped onto its rear wheels Thursday, stranding seven workers 40 feet above ground.

The workers were rescued after about an hour by firefighters using a ladder truck, fire department spokesman Bob Collis said. None of the workers was hurt.

Workers may need a crane to right the MD-11 plane, operated by World Airways, Collis said. The company, based in Peachtree City, Ga., did not immediately return a phone message.

The accident happened before dawn at the airport's cargo complex, away from regular airport traffic.

"As soon as they took whatever it was out of the back of the plane, the weight shifted and the plane just went back on its tail," Collis said.

In January 2002, a Korean Air MD-11 tipped back on its tail while being unloaded in Sydney, Australia. Ten crew members were trapped, but all were rescued without injury.

[av8boy]

"As soon as they took whatever it was out of the back of the plane, the weight shifted and the plane just went back on its tail," Collis said.
Am I reading this wrong, or do I not understand weight and balance?

:confused:

[lomapaseo]

Am I reading this wrong, or do I not understand weight and balance?

pilot error, over-rotation:O

[av8boy]

Bet you've got to pull pretty hard to get over-rotated when you're in the chocks... :D

[Airbubba]

Pictures of a few earlier tailscrapes in the chocks are on this page:

http://www.aviationpics.de/ramp/ramp.htm

[PAXboy]

You know ... it's almost as it people do not learn from mistakes? Either that, or everyone around the world is trying to save money by using cheaper staff and training them less. No that can't be it. :rolleyes:

--------------------
"I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you any different." Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

[CR2]

AV8, guess I have the same problem as you understanding that statement...


:rolleyes:

[mini]

Unfortunately this is not a rare occurance, esp on tri-jets, it has happened with 74's also. As for the "trapped" staff, they're not going to die up there...

Basic errors, pay peanuts get monkeys etc.

:sad:

[cortilla]

it's funny that the very first quote i remember from flying applies everywhere.

"Proper Planning Prevents P@*s Poor Performance"

[rottenlungs]

Yes, taking "whatever it was" out of the rear of the plane would presumably move the cg forward not aft. I`m with av8boy and cr2 on that one.

Reminds me of the end of the (original) Italian Job. "Don`t worry lads, I`ve got an idea!"!

Cheers

Lungs

[Basil]

Just so that all our readers know - (and I only speak for B747 freighters) when the plane (my flight commander said it should never be called a plane which is why I'm using the term :-) is being loaded or unloaded it always (in my experience) had a tail prop or a nose tie-down in place.
That's because there will be transient imbalances as heavy bits are rolled in and out of the aircraft.
Regrettably, the wheel seems to be re-invented with distressing regularity :sad:

p.s. in case you think I'm being a smart-ass; I've made every mistake you can think of plus a few real originals :O

[Onan the Clumsy]

As soon as they took whatever it was out of the back of the plane, the weight shifted and the plane just went back on its tailAm I reading this wrong, or do I not understand weight and balance?
What you didn't realise was that they were transporting Helium :ok:


On a par with a story in Dallas where a jump plane pilot had a little incident on takeoff, leaving the a/c in the weeds off the end of the runway. A jumper said he saw the pilot furiously winding a handle between the seats. The TV guy said how lucky they were that this all happened whn they were so low :ugh:

The real culprit was said to be dustless dust devils :ok:


If my memory serves me correctly: No real person or event was depicted in this story: Must be over eighteen to play: Insert the wors "allegedly" and "may or may not have" liberally throughout this story: Family members are not eligible: No animals were hurt in the making of this story: Void where prohibited by law: All likenesses remain the property of the contest holder: Cash value 0.001c: Peligro helio fine: Ne met pas tes mains dans la porte, il peut pincer tre fort:

[seacue]

Onan,

Are you sure about the helium? I figured that the lead bars they unloaded were lighter than the [cough cough wheeze] LAX air which replaced them.

[av8boy]

LAX? No sir! Prevailing westerlies! Cleanest air in town!

:)

We take sea air, run it across the pristine sands of Dockweiler State Beach, cleanse it upon the wings of the endangered El Segundo Blue (lightly killed), and serve it up, straight-away to the cargo ramp at the airport.

Edited to say, "Delightful, Onan!"

[BOAC]

The press may (unusually:D ) be almost correct here - I have seen it happen: As BASIL says, as a heavy piece is moved aft to the rear hold to be unloaded................................

[Groundloop]

"and tipped onto its rear wheels".

So, are these "rear wheels" a special mod World have on their MD-11s?

[Numpo-Nigit]

I assume that, as this happened in the USA, these poor victims will now receive a six-figure compensation payment for their trauma .....

[MSF]

Normally pallets are shunted fwd to the cargo door in stages to prevent the tail from dropping.
An inexperienced loading team may have forgotten to do this or simply not moved enough pallets forward.
I wonder had the fuelling started or were the tanks empty?
Its not always a loader thing.

A DHL 727 ended up on its tail skis in a bad storm in 1997 because the crew did not want to refuel the A/C during the high winds.
The 727 ended up on the tail skid and the nose followed the wind as it changed direction .

[Rolling-Thunderbird]

http://apnews.myway.com/image/20040527/TAIL_HEAVY_PLANE.sff_CAAJ102_20040527122050.html?date=200405 28&docid=D82RK3500

[London Jets]

Thunderbird

have you got any more photo's and/or links to pictures of this incident?

LJ

[Ontariotech]

cortilla

You almost have it right,

it's the 7 P's, as quoted by an SAS soldier,

Perfect Planning and Preparation Prevent P!!ss Poor Performance.

[HotDog]

MD-11? What's happened to the body gear??

[Rolling-Thunderbird]

http://www.theksbwchannel.com/news/3353502/detail.html?subid=10101103

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5076175/