Aloha Cargo B733 at Lanai on Oct 16th 2014, load shift
Last Update: April 9, 2020 / 13:37:35 GMT/Zulu time
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Oct 16, 2014
Classification
Accident
Airline
Aloha Air Cargo
Departure
Lanai, United States
Destination
Honolulu, United States
Aircraft Registration
N301KH
Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-300
ICAO Type Designator
B733
The FAA reported the aircraft received damage to the bulk head when the load shifted on takeoff.
On Apr 8th 2020 the NTSB released their final report concluding the probable cause (adopted Apr 6th 2020) was:
the improper loading and securing of the cargo pallets, which shifted on departure, resulting in substantial damage to the aft pressure bulkhead.
The NTSB reported:
Aloha Air Cargo was chartered, by Hawaii Island Air, to fly round trip from HNL to LNY to deliver lumber for an impeding hurricane. LNY was not a station Aloha Air Cargo normally flew to, nor did they have employees there. In addition to the flight crew, a flight mechanic and a load planner were scheduled to fly with the aircraft to provide support. Just prior to the flight's departure, dispatch noted that due to weight and balance concerns on the return trip only one of the additional employees could ride with the aircraft. The choice was made to leave the load planner behind and take the aircraft mechanic as the Additional Crew Member (ACM). This was contrary to company guidance.
Flight 600, departed HNL at 1240 HST and arrived in LNY at 1253 HST. After arriving in LNY, the aircraft was off loaded and then the, now empty, cargo pallet cookie sheets were loaded for the return flight. Aloha Air Cargo used various unit load devices (ULDs) in its freighter operation. The LD7 cargo pallet "cookie sheets" consisted of a single skinned pallet with four edge rails, four corner castings and a center sheet section. The pallet sheet and edge rails are attached to each other by rivets. The edge rails are attached to each other at the four corners by means of corner castings.
The mechanic, first officer (FO), and Island Air employees helped to load the aircraft and verified that the locks were up and locked in all positions. There were a total of 8 empty pallet cookie sheets. Of these sheets 7 were strapped down and secured to the 8th sheet. The 8th sheet was then locked down in position 9 (the aircraft was equipped with 9 cargo positions on the main deck with the ninth position being the most aft and turned lengthwise). This was done per dispatch's request for center of gravity (CG) consideration, even though before departure from HNL the load planner had discussed with the mechanic that each pallet should go back in their original position and locked down.
Flight 601, departed LNY at 1449 HST and arrived in HNL at 1514 HST. Nothing out of the ordinary was noticed by the crew in the feel of the aircraft nor did they hear anything unusual. The auto fail light came on during climb and the quick reference handbook (QRH) was then followed. No door lights illuminated and the outflow valve indicated "Closed." However, upon reaching 10,000 ft. the altitude alert horn came on so the crew leveled at 10,000 ft. No emergency was declared. The aircraft landed uneventfully. Upon arrival the flight crew notified dispatch of the pressurization issue, made a log book entry, and was assigned a new aircraft for continued flight. Dispatch notified maintenance of the aircraft pressurization problem.
Per company procedures, Marshaller A performs a post arrival check of the aircraft and verifies the content of the cargo before unloading can begin. Marshaller A noticed that all of the pallets were loaded into position 9, that none of the locks between position 8 and 9 were up, and the straps holding the sheets had allowed the sheets to shift aft making contact with the aft pressure bulkhead. Post event examination revealed that the aft pressure bulkhead had substantial damage, left aft (L2) door panel was damaged, and the right hand forward and aft pop up locking mechanism "claws" were detached/torn from their seat tracks.
Incident Facts
Date of incident
Oct 16, 2014
Classification
Accident
Airline
Aloha Air Cargo
Departure
Lanai, United States
Destination
Honolulu, United States
Aircraft Registration
N301KH
Aircraft Type
Boeing 737-300
ICAO Type Designator
B733
This article is published under license from Avherald.com. © of text by Avherald.com.
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