Hello everyone, I am a qualified "load master" for a major european (passenger) airline. I can confirm to you that we are extremely nit-picky when it comes to tie downs and putting locks in place. The rule is: all locks up (regardless if the hold is empty) and nets on cargo pallets as tight as they can get. In the bulk hold, all clips on all nets must be attached. In the event of an animal in the bulk hold, the animal is tied down. I know that at some US airlines, simply locking into place the ULD (unit of loading) is sufficient, while leaving locks down in void positions is also ok. That is a no-no for us. In the event of an "incident", i.e. a lock found down upon arrival, clips found not attached, a message is sent to the station at fault and a "corrective action plan" is set in place. Trust me, it almost gets annoying, but it forces you to be vigilent, especially after seeing the consequences like the MK. I am not saying that the MK went down because something in its cargo load was not tied down though ... it could have been bad weight and balance? A mis-communication about the load? There was more weight in the hold than actually stated on the papework? As for ground handlers, we are ground handled by another major US carrier (we're in the SkyTeam alliance, for what it's worth) and while we have a good rapport with our ramp handler's one of our own agents MUST be present to verify loading of cargo and bagage containers. Best regards, -Chris loadmaster Automatic digest processor <LISTSERV@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2004 13:21:01 EDT From: Dennis W Zeuch Subject: Re: [Sky-1] 747F crash Halifax - Star Report Robert.Fletcher@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes: > This is what happened to a cargo bird out of Mather airport (Sacramento) > 3-4 > years ago, they had lifted off the ground, made a left turn, 180 degrees and > went down in a auto wrecking yard next to the airport (Old AFB), the load on > board WAS NOT TIED DOWN ! > I recall even in Boston with Swissair--ground loading and handling was done by Hudson General--$5.00 an hour East Boston kids,got NO training and usually quit within 6 weeks so no one knew how to do anything except 2-3 supervisors covering 35 acft at the same time. I t was up to people like me to climb into the damn thing and double check the locks etc were in place with all the pallets and containers. As everyone trys to save a buck this can happen very easily these days...because there is no one left to climb in and double check........ Dennis ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2004 10:21:41 -0700 From: mgreenwood@xxxxxxxxx Subject: Plane's tail struck Halifax runway twice Plane's tail struck Halifax runway twice Last Updated Fri, 15 Oct 2004 12:17:05 EDT HALIFAX - The tail of a cargo-laden 747 jet that crashed early Thursday struck the runway twice before snapping off as the plane tried to take off from Halifax airport, investigators said Friday. Transportation Safety Board investigator Bill Fowler said it appears the tail of the MK Airlines Ltd. plane made contact with the runway twice: the first time about 250 metres from the end of the runway, then again about 80 metres further along the runway. The plane's fuselage came to rest a kilometre past the runway. "The indication is there was prolonged contact of the aft fuselage with the runway and off the end of the runway," Fowler said during a briefing Friday morning. He said the plane then became "briefly airborne," striking an antenna mounted on a berm (a raised bank of earth) about 300 metres from the end of the runway. FROM OCT. 14, 2004: Probe begins into deadly cargo jet crash Now missing its tail and out of control, the main fuselage travelled through a wooded area at the end of the runway, snapping off treetops and power lines before coming to a rest in a blazing heap a kilometre away. "The main part of the fuselage continued... ballistically until the final impact point," Fowler he said. He said investigators were looking into a report from an airport worker that the plane didn't use the entire length of the 2,700-metre runway, but entered it at the 2,000-metre mark. "We do not have any information that there was an early takeoff point ? that is, substantially early," said Fowler. All seven crew members on board the plane were killed. Fowler said most of the remains of the victims, from Zimbabwe and South Africa, have been removed from the wreckage and are in a secure area. Interactive: Cargo Plane Crash When asked whether the Halifax airport has a ground radar system, which lets controllers see aircraft movement in real time, Fowler said he didn't believe so. He wasn't sure whether most major Canadian airports have ground radar systems. One of the airport's runways remains closed, said Halifax airport spokesperson Pat Chapman. Some of the navigational equipment damaged in the crash cannot be replaced until the end of November and the airport is working to ensure service isn't disrupted, she said. John Power, the operations manager for MK Airlines, defended what he called the company's "excellent" safety record during Friday morning's briefing. Thursday's crash was the company's fourth accident in the 14 years he has worked for them, he said. The other crashes, in 1992, 1996 and 2001, all took place in Nigeria, he said. One person was killed in one of the crashes. The jet had been taking a load of lawn tractors and seafood to Spain when the crash happened. ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2004 10:36:31 -0700 From: "Fletcher, Robert SPK" Subject: Re: [Sky-1] 747F crash Halifax - Star Report I take it your are/were a load master? I can remember being a apprentice loadmaster in training on the old C-124s out of Donaldson ABF in S.C., what ever the shipment was, the tie downs and all the webbing was so tight an nat could have never gotten through! I am sure the same thing is true on the C-5s to Iraq and etc. Are any proceedures different between civil and military aircraft in regards to cargos? do we have any present and former loadmasters on board this net? Bob BOB FLETCHER US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS MILITARY DESIGN SECTION 10th FLOOR S.W. SACRAMENTO DISTRICT 1325 J STREET, SACRAMENTO CALIFORNIA, 95814-2922 Phone (916) 557-7235 -Christopher Liao http://www.airliners.net/search/photo.search?emailsearch=chrisliao1@xxxxxxxxx http://www.auctiontransportation.com/sites/airchristophe/ --------------------------------- Do you Yahoo!? vote.yahoo.com - Register online to vote today!