USC Football team on board

[rdb241]

The USC football team was on their way to Wazzu to play the Cougars. When they landed in Lewiston Idaho. This happened with the team on board the plane. I worked for Boeing for 28 years in final assembly on the 737. The Max was just coming on board when I left. My question is how and why did this happen?

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[Lilhigbee]

Somebody effed up Weight and Balance!! A lot!!

 

[gryghin]

If that is a real picture and not photoshoped, that's incredible.

 

[rdb241]

If that is a real picture and not photoshoped, that's incredible.

I saw the very same pic on ESPN's SportsCenter and that is why I looked it up and saved the pic. The pic was taken by somebody in the terminal becuase you can see a reflection in the window.

 

[Heyjoe]

UNITED...

 

[ilikegunspdx]

The USC football team was on their way to Wazzu to play the Cougars. When they landed in Lewiston Idaho. This happened with the team on board the plane. I worked for Boeing for 28 years in final assembly on the 737. The Max was just coming on board when I left. My question is how and why did this happen?

View attachment 1034825

Too many big offensive lineman going to back of plane to use restroom?

 

[ilikegunspdx]

FYI I noticed this documentary fwiw but have not watched it:

 

[ilikegunspdx]

When that used to happen on a tractor we just put heavy metal plates in the front to weigh it back down. So clearly that's what they need to do here.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

Seriously though it looks like once they got all the weight from the equipment and cargo unloaded from the front that's when it tipped. They probably just calculate loads for fuel estimation and don't think about weight distribution. I guess they will after this though ha ha.

 

[NeSeR13]

Oops!

 

[Provincial]

It is common to put a stand under the tail when loading/unloading. All tricycle landing gear aircraft have a bracket under the tail for this that is engineered to take the stresses imposed by such loading. Usually, the stand is an extendable tube that hangs from the aircraft, ending a few inches from the ground. The reason is that passenger aircraft load from back to front, and unload from front to back. Since the main wheels are located near the mid-point of the fuselage, under the wings, and the third wheel set is at the front of the fuselage, the empty aircraft center of gravity is ahead of the main wheels.

When you start loading from the rear, the center of gravity shifts rearward. Unless the airplane is very nose-heavy when empty, you can move the center of gravity behind the main wheels, and the tail will go to the ground if no stand is installed.

My guess is that the ground crew neglected to install the tail stand.

Or, the 100+ undocumented immigrants that were being smuggled into Northern Idaho to vote were located in the rear baggage compartment and the ground crew was waiting for the USC fans to leave before letting them out to get into the government busses.

 

[NeSeR13]

 

[albin25]

DARN IT .....
.....our plan to scare away Californians has been exposed !!

 

[deerbandit]

The USC football team was on their way to Wazzu to play the Cougars. When they landed in Lewiston Idaho. This happened with the team on board the plane. I worked for Boeing for 28 years in final assembly on the 737. The Max was just coming on board when I left. My question is how and why did this happen?

View attachment 1034825

Too much beef in back. Just kidding I have no idea.

 

[deerbandit]

If that is a real picture and not photoshoped, that's incredible.

It's a real picture unfortunately.

 

[deerbandit]

It is common to put a stand under the tail when loading/unloading. All tricycle landing gear aircraft have a bracket under the tail for this that is engineered to take the stresses imposed by such loading. Usually, the stand is an extendable tube that hangs from the aircraft, ending a few inches from the ground. The reason is that passenger aircraft load from back to front, and unload from front to back. Since the main wheels are located near the mid-point of the fuselage, under the wings, and the third wheel set is at the front of the fuselage, the empty aircraft center of gravity is ahead of the main wheels.

When you start loading from the rear, the center of gravity shifts rearward. Unless the airplane is very nose-heavy when empty, you can move the center of gravity behind the main wheels, and the tail will go to the ground if no stand is installed.

My guess is that the ground crew neglected to install the tail stand.

Or, the 100+ undocumented immigrants that were being smuggled into Northern Idaho to vote were located in the rear baggage compartment and the ground crew was waiting for the USC fans to leave before letting them out to get into the government busses.

I think they were probably Afghans.

 

[Aero Denezol]

Somebody effed up Weight and Balance!! A lot!!

^^This. Not unheard of, usually happens to cargo aircraft. A quick google search should produce plenty of images, including FedEx and other large mainline carriers. Some older airliners, like the Soviet IL-62M have a leg ("pogo stick") they can extend to keep it from tipping back.

This does not have anything to do with the teething problems of the Boeing 737 Max.

@Ura-Ki is a pilot and might shed some add'l light on this.

 

[Ura-Ki]

Hard to say what happens for sure, lots of things will cause this! Most tricycle landing gear aircraft are very sensitive to any un balance with the main gear being the fulcrum, so,....
It could be the whole team we're standing in the back, cargo was loaded incorrectly, ect. And that tends to happen, A lot!
Having seen big freight haulers like UPS and Fed Ex and others, they are trying to cram as much weight into them as they can, and before computers to track the size and weight of a pallet build, this happens all the time!

Fortunately, those birds have a reinforced tail to deal with such things as this, or a ground strike on take off or landing! Even with computers doing the flying, a tail strike is still possible!