2022-04 · NASA ASRS report 1896248
B747 flight crew reported problems with the securing of an oversized load and refused to depart until corrected by the load master.
In a working crew of 3 and a total of X souls on board on this B747-800 aircraft we were preparing to fly from ZZZ to ZZZZ. I was First Officer observer and was checking the main deck load. There were a large non-standard load on the main deck. It appeared to be an electric turbine from company. Straps were apparently preventing it to move laterally and longitudinally. These straps were almost parallel to the main deck; so apparently not designed to help against a vertical movement in level flight. Except two main deck tie-downs at the front of this load; that seemed to help to restrain this turbine to move upward; I could not see any other restrain preventing this huge load to move upward in case of negative Gs. Also there were about 1 foot clearance between the top of this turbine and ceiling of the main deck.For a few minutes; I was trying to reach the load master and loaders regarding attachments. I then met the Captain that came down and looked at the tie-down worksheet when the loading people arrived. On this document we could see it was a 16;500 Kg turbine. All the attachments designed to prevent an upward movement and secure the turbine to the flight deck were missing; according to the tie-down worksheet. Also; the Captain noticed several lateral and longitudinal straps were missing or incorrectly attached; according to the tie-down worksheet. The Captain reached the company and it was said all the straps and tie-downs had to be redone. After a few other modifications to have this load secured to the flight deck according to the tie-down worksheet; we were able to leave about 2 hours late.Was the loading crew rushed by time? Looking at what was happening when redoing the tie-down; I noticed the loaders were not following the tie-down worksheet. e.g. instead of going around the 'support blocks' with the straps for 'vertical restrain'; they were going in the middle of the 'springs'. That was not conform to the diagram and looked not good attachment. They told me they could not push the straps between the support blocks and the turbine casing with their hands. It was too long. I suggested they use a 'stick' to push the straps. Isn't there a training to understand better the non-standard load strapping and how the vertical restrain can be achieve without the locking system of the aircraft main deck?
I operated Aircraft X on Date. First Officer Name did the main deck check and noticed there were no straps over a large turbine generator to hold it down. It was a 20 ft. pallet and the turbine weighed over 17;000 Kg. Name brought it to my attention and we went downstairs to check it out. The load master was there. The load master said that there were no straps required to go over the top to hold it down. He showed Name the strap diagram. He also showed me the strap diagram and I noticed that the straps were not located in the correct positions according to the diagram. The load master said that it was correct. I pointed out numerous flaws with the strap pattern he had and the fact that he had strapped the turbine jig to the pallet which was incorrect. However the load master insisted that this was ok. The pallet was also a little crooked and therefore was only touching one of the two forward locks. I took photos. I sent these photos to 'Special Loads' and spoke with Name1 in special loads and he agreed with me that the straps were installed incorrectly. The load master still insisted that his way was correct. I told him to redo the straps and follow the strap diagram because it has to be done correctly. He argued with us but then attempted to re-strap the pallet. I had Name1 from special loads call the load master to explain to him what has to be done. After he was finished we inspected his work and it was still incorrect. He routed the straps through the springs and then had the straps attached to the outboard floor rail. It clearly states on the strap schedule with a box note that the straps cannot be used through the springs and then they have to be attached to the floor. He still argued with us that this was correct and it clearly was not. I told him that we would not depart until the straps were installed exactly like the diagrams and that this was a huge safety issue. I'm not a load master by any means but I can read and follow directions. This load master was just doing his own thing and not following the diagram that was given to him. I talked to Name1 in special loads again and explained to him the failure of the load master not following the tie down schedule. Name1 made some phone calls and soon a team of guys from special loads in ZZZ showed up at the aircraft to correct the mistakes and install the straps correctly. After this was completed; we were all in agreement that the straps were indeed installed correctly as per the diagram. We blocked out 2 hours late due to this failure. Also upon arrival in ZZZZ; I checked the straps and a couple of them were loose. I notified the load master there and he said he would take care of it. Maybe this was caused because of turbulence while enroute? I am grateful that FO Name questioned the straps. Otherwise; we may have had a load shift. What is disturbing to all of my crew including the deadheading crew and myself was the fact that the load master was ok with letting the airplane depart with incorrect strapping. This was found to be the cause of Other Airline crash in Bagram. I hope the industry never experiences another crash like this. Thankfully the Company has extensive procedures put in place to avoid load shifts. However; all of the procedures were thrown out the window today when the ZZZ load master disregarded the strapping diagram. This incident is caused by the load master in ZZZ disregarding a tie down schedule diagram that was provided to ensure the safety of flight. This was a 17;000 Kilo turbine generator installed on a special jig or rack for carriage on aircraft. I suggest that all load masters must be trained on special loads and strict adherence to the tie down schedule is paramount. I also suggest that when there is a special load requiring a strap diagram; the flight crew must have a copy of the tie down schedule available to us in the flight paperwork and it must be kept with the envelope. We are the last line of defense to ensure the safety of flight. If provided with this diagram that the load master had; we could possibly catch errors early to avoid possible delays. Maybe there could be a bulletin regarding this issued for all crew members to read and comply.
More incidents for this aircraft family
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
Loading the flight search…
Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.
We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.
Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.
Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.