Report: Pilot wrote plane was within 2 pounds of maximum weight CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) =97 The captain of a commuter plane that crashed here= =20 wrote just before departure that the turboprop was within 2 pounds of its=20 maximum takeoff weight, The Charlotte Observer reported Saturday. The=20 plane's weight and mechanical problems are likely to be examined when the=20 National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday holds a hearing in=20 Washington into the cause of the crash, which killed all 21 people on=20 board. On Jan. 8, US Airways Express Flight 5481 crashed 37 seconds into=20 its flight from Charlotte/Douglas International Airport to Greer, S.C.=20 Capt. Katie Leslie filled out a dispatch form indicating the total weight=20 of the Beech 1900 turboprop was 17,118 pounds, the Observer reported,=20 citing a source. Its maximum takeoff weight is 17,120 pounds. There's=20 enough of a safety margin built in so the plane could carry that weight=20 with one of its two engines operating, the newspaper said. Leslie used prevailing estimates for passenger and bag weights. She also=20 deducted about 100 pounds from the actual fuel weight for her taxi to the=20 runway, a normal procedure. Studies after the crash of the passenger and=20 bag weights indicate that the prevailing estimates may have been too low,=20 the newspaper's source said. The crash prompted the Federal Aviation=20 Administration this past week to increase its estimates of how much=20 passengers and their luggage weigh. The changes are designed to help better= =20 gauge whether a plane is overloaded. A preliminary NTSB report also found=20 that turnbuckles that control tension on elevator control cables were set=20 improperly. The plane's tail assembly was adjusted two days before the=20 crash. The aircraft's data recorder showed an unusual up-and-down motion of= =20 the elevator control on all nine flights it took following the maintenance= =20 work, investigators have said. The NTSB board's staff also has been looking at the maintenance hangar in=20 Huntington, W.Va., where the improper adjustment may have been performed by= =20 a mechanic. At the hangar, Air Midwest, which flew the plane for US=20 Airways, retained Raytheon Aerospace LLC to maintain the plane. Raytheon=20 then hired mechanics from a Florida aviation labor contractor. Experts have= =20 said the unusual maintenance arrangement could have made it harder for Air= =20 Midwest to ensure the quality of work at the hangar. The deadly flight=20 marked the first time the plane was fully loaded following the cable=20 adjustment, the Observer has reported, citing sources. The FAA also said Friday it had found records showing an inspector visited= =20 the hangar twice before the crash. Those visits occurred July 15 and Sept.= =20 11-13, agency officials say. Last month, the inspection records didn't show= =20 up in a computer database designed to help the FAA keep track of trends and= =20 problems. The FAA is reviewing why it initially failed to find them. Agency= =20 officials said the travel records show FAA inspector Jerry Unruh, based in= =20 Wichita, Kan., making the September visit. Unruh said he saw mechanics work= =20 on a plane's nose gear at that inspection. Computer records related to=20 Unruh's visit in July indicate he found lighting was insufficient, but=20 personnel training records were up to date and required technical manuals=20 were onsite. The hangar began maintenance work in late July. *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@xxxxxxxxx Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Mas Site: www.tntisland.com/tntrecords/mas2003/ Site of the Week: http://www.caribbeanfloral.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************