Background
The ground handling operator's aircraft loading procedures require obtaining a pit load sheet as a first step. If unavailable, ground crew are to contact ground operations controllers. In this occurrence, the pit load sheet was not provided, and the ground crew attempted to contact the controllers but they were unavailable. The investigation was unable to determine why the pit load sheet was not supplied.
Loading Process
Loader operator 1 began loading and was called away with the yellow ULA copy in their pocket instead of on the clipboard in the loader per normal procedure. Loader operator 2 continued the loading and assumed any containers already on the aircraft had been pre-loaded, reinforced by the absence of the yellow copy. Loader operator 2 completed loading without the yellow copy and did not document containers as they were loaded. No communication occurred between the two loader operators regarding task completion.
Unloading and Verification
After unloading, all compartments must be checked and confirmed empty. Loader operator 1 did check the hold but failed to see the container in position 31. The leading hand witnessed loader operator 1 checking the hold but did not perform an independent check of the hold themselves. Although position 31 was marked as empty on the ULA, neither loader operator 1 nor the leading hand verified the position's emptiness by physical inspection.
Contributing Factors
On that day, ground crew were required to complete additional tasks: putting in a lift, toilet cleaning, and water topping up. Ordinarily, the leading hand would delegate the toilet clean to another team to keep loader operators on their task. However, the leading hand called for assistance but none was available because two off-scheduled aircraft were also being turned around. The leading hand reported feeling rushed due to the extra tasks during the 30-minute turnaround, and this contributed to the checks not being completed.