Belgique

Not a question of where the cargo's stowed for cg purposes but of what happens when it's not secured.

With containers, be they aircraft of maritime, you know what the weights and destinations are prior to loading; the appropriate computer programme tells you where to put the containers for the most efficient trim/stability/discharge combination. In container ships carrying thousands of boxes of different sizes, considerations include stack weight, destinations, cargo compatibility, susceptibility to temperature/humidity change etc.; on aircraft it's quite a bit simpler because transport is usually point-to-point.

The weakest link is the lashing, securing the cargo so it doesn't shift. After the computer's done its work telling you where the cargo should go and, assuming that's where it was actually stowed, the old Mark 1 eyeball has to be employed. On a ship it's the chief officer's responsibility; part of his job is to catch all the little mistakes made by the shore gang (and which his duty mates didn't catch) and have them corrected - loose turnbuckles, twistlocks in the release position, etc, never trusting anyone. On an aircraft I believe it's the same but, again, somewhat more straitforward. Number One consideration being "is it adequately tied down?".

What it boils down to is simple commonsense. When you fly as a passenger, and you stow your computer bag in the overhead bin, do you consider how the bag's going to slide aft on takeoff and forward on landing, and try to cushion it where it's not going to be shot like a loose cannon from one end of the locker to the other?

broadreach, on modern aircraft, cargo is not restrained by lashing. Pallets and containers are held in place by mechanical latches on the cargo floor. The only hold where loose cargo is stowed is the bulk cargo hold where uncontainerized suitcases, fruit and vegetables etc. are loaded but in such a way that they do not shift on rotation or deceleration and are usually contained by cargo nets or curtains. I have experienced a few tailstrikes on various aircraft during my flying days although none of them severe enough to cause any damage to the airframe.

Thanks for clarifying, HotDog. Am I right in thinking the latches have to be manually turned/swivelled/activated? Same as all the securing apparatus on a ship, and as subject to oversight and as much in need of the old eyeball checking before one sets off?

I don't want to skew this thread away from its central theme; the comments re stowage were just to offer an alternative scenario to "FD crew screwed up bigtime on rotation".

;)

Yes, they are manually locked and it is the responsibility of the cargo loaders that this is accomplished.