What happened
Following the unserviceability of aircraft NHQ, the operator reassigned the Perth to Kalgoorlie service to aircraft NHV. While the operator verbally informed the contracted ground handling service provider about the change in aircraft, they did not communicate the new registration.
Because the ground handling provider's system showed the tasks for the original flight number as already completed, a team was not assigned to transfer baggage and freight from the original aircraft to the replacement. Although the updated load instruction sheet (LIS) contained the new registration, it was incorrectly marked as edition 1.
During pre-flight preparations, an individual entered the flight deck of NHV to confirm offload figures, as the loading supervisor could not be reached. The captain, a relatively new employee, misunderstood the purpose of this visit. Believing the LIS was intended for the new aircraft, the captain manually amended the registration on the document from NHQ to NHV. This manual amendment, which was a permitted practice at the time, led the crew to believe the loading instructions were certified for the current flight.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the communication breakdown between the operator and the ground handling provider. It was determined that the ground handling provider's system recorded the task for the flight number as finished, which prevented the allocation of a team to move the cargo. The investigation also examined the documentation error where the LIS was erroneously labeled as edition 1, contributing to the confusion regarding the task status.