Event Details


Title:Uncommanded rotation, Incident involving aircraft LN-RPL at Gothenburg/Landvetter Airport, O county, Sweden, on 7 December 2003
Micro summary:This Boeing 737-800 experienced an uncommanded rotation while accelerating for takeoff.
Event Time:2003-12-07 at 1845 UTC
File Name:2003-12-07-SE.pdf
Publishing Agency:Swedish Accident Investigation Board (AIB)
Publishing Country:Sweden
Report number:RL 2005:20e
Pages:20
Diversion Airport:Göteborg/Landvetter Airport, O county, Sweden
Site of event:Göteborg/Landvetter Airport, O county, Sweden
Latitude/Longitude:57°40'N 012°18'E
Departure:Göteborg/Landvetter Airport, O county, Sweden
Destination:Stockholm-Arlanda Airport, Marsta, Sweden
Airplane Type(s):Boeing 737-800
Flight Phase:Takeoff
Registration(s):LN-RPL
Operator(s):SAS
Type of flight:Charter
Occupants:127
Fatalities:0
Serious Injuries:0
Minor/Non-Injured:127
Other Injuries:0
Diverted to:Göteborg/Landvetter Airport, O county, Sweden
Executive Summary:The airline company was operating a series charter flight from Salzburg Airport in Austria to Stockholm/Arlanda Airport, with an intermediate stop at Göteborg/Landvetter Airport. In Göteborg 59 passengers disembarked while the remaining 121 remained seated in the cabin. No new passengers were taken on board.

According to the loadsheet that the pilots received prior to the continued flight to Stockholm the passengers were evenly distributed in the cabin and the mass and balance limitations in force were met.

At the start, when the aircraft was approaching 80 knots and before V1 had been reached, the co-pilot, who was the flying pilot, noted that the aircraft’s nose was lifting spontaneously without him moving the control column. He reported this to the commander who took over the control and aborted the takeoff.

The pilots and the SAS-personnel later discovered that the particulars in the loadsheet concerning the distribution of passengers in the cabin did not tally with where the passengers were actually sitting.

The investigation has noted shortcomings in the routines and computerised systems used for the production of loadsheets. This resulted in that the takeoff was commenced with a centre-of-gravity position at more than 1/4 aft of the certified CG span.

The incident was caused by shortcomings in the routines and computer systems used in the production of loadsheets.
Learning Keywords:Operations - Center of Gravity/MAC
Operations - Loading
Operations - Upset - Uncommanded or excessive Pitch
Close match:Tail strike during take-off, Boeing 747-412 9V-SMT, flight SQ286, Auckland International Airport 12 March 2003
Tailstrike on takeoff, Serious incident occurring on November 29, 2002 at Dortmund Airport involving a Boeing 737-800
Loading error, Airbus A340-642, G-VSHY
Uncommanded pitch-up, Airbus A320-214, G-OOAR
Tail strike on rotation, Boeing 777-200B, N784UA
Uncommanded pitch-up, Fokker F27-600 Friendship, G-CHNL
Loss of Pitch Control During Takeoff, Air Midwest Flight 5481, Raytheon (Beechcraft) 1900D, N233YV, Charlotte, North Carolina, January 8, 2003
Stall on takeoff, Bombardier CL-600-2B16 (CL-604), C-FTBZ , Mid-Continent Airport, Wichita, Kansas, October 10, 2000
Uncontrolled Impact With Terrain, Fine Airlines Flight 101, Douglas DC-8-61, N27UA, Miami, Florida, August 7, 1997
Loss of control on takeoff, United Airlines Flight 2885, N8053U, McDonnell Douglas DC-8-54F, Detroit, Michigan, January 11, 1983
Weight and Balance complications, McDonnell Douglas MD-83, March 7, 2000
Tail strike on takeoff, Boeing 747-128, December 28, 2001
Tail strike on landing from FMS error, McDonnell Douglas MD-11, November 11, 1998
Runway overrun, Airbus A320, Detroit, March 17, 2001
Runway overrun Onur Air, Runway overrun after rejected take-off of the Onur Air MD-88, registration TC-ONP, at Groningen Airport Eelde on 17 June 2003

 




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