Airliner W&B calc: Jet, passengers, cargo, ...that's it, right?

[mikea]

A Thomas Cook flight with 223 passengers aboard narrowly averted disaster after a pilot miscalculated the aircraft's weight by 17 tons (34,000 pounds) reports the Daily Mail.

The Airbus A321 was flying from Manchester in the UK to Heraklion in Crete on April 29, Royal Wedding day. The incident was revealed Thursday in an accident report, which stated that the pilot forgot to account for the fuel when calculating the plane's weight for take off.
...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/09/pilot-miscalculates-plane-weight_n_1138632.html

Jesse, make a call and sell them a few copies of your app.

 

[dell30rb]

So, i'm guessing he rotated and nothing happened for a few seconds until the airplane flew itself off of the runway? Does not sound like he was in any real danger.

 

[mikea]

I would hope that it adding up and seeing that the weight was 34,000 pounds less than previous would set off most people's math sanity check alarms.

"Wow, I'm like half weight. Woot! Gonna climb like bat out of ....!"

Kids these days with their calculators doing all of the math...

 

[dell30rb]

I would hope that it adding up and seeing that the weight was 34,000 pounds less than previous would set off most people's math sanity check alarms.

"Wow, I'm like half weight. Woot! Gonna climb like bat out of ....!"

Kids these days with their calculators doing all of the math...

Very true. However I can see that doing w&b over and over and over again as airline pilots are required to do could lead to complacency. After 1000 calculations that are well within the envelope of the airplane, you might become less careful.

When I do a w&b on an airplane i've flown many times with various loads, its because I know that i'll be somewhere near the edge of the envelope so i'm very careful and double check everything.

FYI I am not suggesting airline pilots forego calculating w&b for every flight. Obviously having correct V speeds and an airplane that is within the envelope can only enhance safety.

 

[wabower]

What's the max gross weight and max fuel weight of a 321?

I would hope that it adding up and seeing that the weight was 34,000 pounds less than previous would set off most people's math sanity check alarms.

"Wow, I'm like half weight. Woot! Gonna climb like bat out of ....!"

Kids these days with their calculators doing all of the math...

 

[flyingron]

Must have been to the Rick Perry school of flying.

 

[wabower]

I don't recall reading of any major fuel miscalcuations when Rick was flying C-130's in the USAF. Are they listed somewhere?

Must have been to the Rick Perry school of flying.