MDT WAS SO TAIL HVY THAT THE CREW HAD TO RESTRICT THE USE OF WING FLAPS FOR LNDG.

Date: 1993-07 · Aircraft: Medium Transport · Phase: approach

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far

Synopsis

MDT WAS SO TAIL HVY THAT THE CREW HAD TO RESTRICT THE USE OF WING FLAPS FOR LNDG.

Narrative

WHILE CONFIGURING THE MDT FOR LNDG; WE SELECTED FLAPS 15 DEGS; LNDG GEAR DOWN. AS FLAPS EXTENDED; IT WAS NOTED THAT ELEVATOR TRIM WAS FULL NOSE DOWN AND A SLIGHT PRESSURE WAS REQUIRED TO MAINTAIN THE NOSE ATTITUDE. THE FO AND I AGREED THAT FLAP 25 DEGS WOULD REQUIRE ADDITIONAL NOSE DOWN TRIM; SO A FLAPS 15 DEG LNDG WAS PLANNED AND EXECUTED WITH NO FURTHER DIFFICULTIES. A VTH SPD OF 120 KIAS WAS USED. TOUCHDOWN WAS APPROX 100 KIAS. AFTER ARRIVING AT THE GATE; I INSPECTED THE BAGGAGE IN THE TAIL COMPARTMENT. THE COUNT WAS 42 BAGS; WHICH WAS WHAT THE WT AND BAL WAS CALCULATED ON. THE MAX BAGGAGE WITHOUT PAX LOAD OF 36 WAS 54 BAGS AT 35 LBS APIECE. HOWEVER; AS I COUNTED THE BAGS; WHICH WERE EXTREMELY LARGE; I ESTIMATED THEIR WT FROM 50 TO OVER 100 LBS EACH. I SUGGEST THAT ALL BAGS BE WEIGHED AT 'CHK IN.' THOSE BAGS ABOVE 35 LBS MUST HAVE ACTUAL WT POSTED AND BE USED IN CALCULATING THE ACFT'S ACTUAL WT AND BAL. THIS IS A DANGEROUS SIT THAT MUST BE AVOIDED ON REGIONAL TURBOPROPS AND OTHER TRANSPORT ACFT.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.