2011-07 · NASA ASRS report 961644
DC8 flight crew experiences a tail strike on takeoff. It is later determined that the cargo weights were in kilograms rather than pounds; making the aircraft 35;000 LBS heavier than calculated.
I had a tail skid strike on takeoff. Aircraft and aircraft systems operating normally; continued to destination after calling operations to ok the inspection at destination. After thinking it over I find out that my First Officer has used pounds in stead of kilograms for the weight and balance form; something that I did not notice at the time. The load sheet handed to us did not specify if it was in KG or LBS. We had only 12 positions and the pallets were not bulky so it did not occur to me that he had not used KG. Once getting on the airplane I was constantly interrupted to get the fuel; pay landing fees; get the appropriate papers that were missing and I was going back and forth to operations to fix things. This job should be handled by our operations and not by the crew member; also this day we did not have a load master on board with us. I know it is my responsibility as a Captain to have checked the numbers more closely I am just saying that letting the Captain do all this extra work in stead of concentrating solely on his flight is not safe.
We reported to the aircraft early and began preflight preparations. There was no load master assigned to the flight. I completed the weight and balance form. I used the pallet loading sheet provided; which; contained no indication as to whether the weights listed were in pounds or kilograms. I entered the weights in the 'pounds' column without realizing the weights were actually in kilograms. The original form indicated a takeoff weight of 309;802 LBS. All performance numbers were based on this weight. On rotation we heard a bang; the Captain called for max power. On climb out; ATC informed us we had a tail strike and that nothing was found on the runway. We conferred with Operations Control and elected to continue to our destination. Enroute we determined that the cargo weights were improperly entered in pounds rather than kilograms. Actual takeoff weight was determined to be 345;000 LBS. A new weight and balance was completely correctly and the proper weights were used for all subsequent performance calculations.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.
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