What happened
On October 24, 2008, an ATR 72-212 A, registration F-GRPI, operated by Compagnie Aérienne Corse Méditerranée, departed Toulouse Blagnac for Nice. During the pre-departure process, a passenger failed to board the aircraft, and no corresponding baggage was checked. To avoid delays, the pilot decided to manually adjust the final load sheet to account for the missing passenger's weight.
While the pilot updated the mass, the center of gravity (CG) was not recalculated. Shortly after the aircraft pushed back, an alert from the GAETAN flight management system notified the operational control center that the takeoff weight/balance was outside of limits. The crew, having already departed, was notified of the discrepancy but elected to continue the flight after determining that while the CG was outside operational limits, it remained within structural limits.
The investigation
The investigation focused on the breakdown in communication and the procedures used to finalize the load sheet. Investigators found that the ground agent (AET) was managing multiple aircraft due to staffing shortages and was unable to verify the specific details of the manual correction at the aircraft side. Furthermore, the ground agent's mobile system lost Wi-Fi connectivity in a different parking zone, preventing them from remotely diagnosing the system error that had blocked the printing of the mass and balance document.
At the gate, the boarding agent encountered a system error message stating "FORBIDDEN CAUSE: TOW LIMITS," but misinterpreted the alert and requested a password rather than investigating the weight and balance implication. This prevented the error from being flagged to the crew before departure.
Findings
- The aircraft departed with a center of gravity outside of operational limits because the pilot failed to update the CG calculation after manually adjusting the mass for the absent passenger.
- The crew did not adequately assess the risks of operating outside the manufacturer's recommended operational envelope.
- A breakdown in communication occurred when the boarding agent misinterpreted the system's automated warning.
- High workload and staffing shortages led the ground agent to prioritize a quick departure over verifying the accuracy of the manual load sheet adjustments.
- Technical limitations, specifically poor Wi-Fi coverage in certain airport zones, prevented the ground agent from performing remote verification of the flight documents.