Weight, balance considerations rest on pilots'
The NTSB calculated six different weight and balance scenarios in its investigation, utilizing a variety of factors to accommodate changes in passenger and cargo weights and placements of baggage. Based on the scenario the report says "more closely approximates the actual weight and balance of the airplane during the accident flight," investigators concluded the aircraft was slightly over the certificated maximum gross weight of 8,000 pounds and -- significantly -- 5.58 inches aft of the center-of-gravity limit. Based on photographic evidence, all of the cargo was in the rear, along with a large portion of the baggage. The two heaviest passengers, estimated at 181 and 218 pounds, were also seated in the rearmost two seats.This scenario also addressed questions concerning the fuel onboard. The aircraft was equipped to carry 251 gallons in three tanks. A witness observed the pilot topping off the front tank and beginning to fuel the second tank; the witness then departed and it was unknown if that tank was filled or what fuel at all was added to the rear tank. The NTSB thus included only the aircraft flight manual's minimum requirement of 20 gallons of fuel in the rear tank which is certified to carry up to 87 gallons. If the pilot filled that tank, the center of gravity would have been even further aft than the NTSB determined.Loading an aircraft this far aft, which creates a tail-heavy configuration, makes an aerodynamic stall much more likely. Stalls at low altitude, such as one that might occur during takeoff, are almost never possible to recover from.As an air taxi operating under Part 135 of the FARs, Rediske Air was assigned a principal operations inspector by the FAA. In an interview with the NTSB the inspector noted that that Rediske “wasn’t on his radar” and deemed a "good operator." The inspector visited the company only twice a year; he was also principal operations inspector for 37 other Part 135 operators. When asked why the Turbine Otter was not listed in the Operations Specifications weight and balance program with the company’s other five aircraft, as required, the inspector said it was an oversight. The NTSB noted in its report that after the accident, the FAA attempted to insert a revised section of the loading schedule list ”that included the accident airplane with a retroactive date.”Alaska aviation is full of stories of overloaded and improperly loaded aircraft dating back to the early days of territorial flying. This passage from “The Flying North,” originally published in 1945, is a perfect example of such extremes:“If the ship’ll take her,” the pilots say, “we’ll fly her.” Bunks and poling boats have often been wedged into small single-engine craft. A dredge shaft was once hauled in a Bellanca; the pilot had to take out the front window to fit it in. A small gas tractor was carried in a Stinson. The pilot removed the doors of the plane and flew with the track frame sticking out two feet on either side. “The tail shook a little,” he admits. This was no the worst. “If she’s too big to get in,” they say, “we’ll tie her on outside.” Pilot Jack Peck once lashed a big cookstove onto the fuselage of his Ryan B-1. A Michigan sled weighing 260 pounds was hauled by Oscar Winchell underneath his Stinson.These are the stories that gave birth to a legend and then created the ever-popular Bush Pilot Myth. However, they are just stories from pilots long dead who passed tales along in the most casual of settings while creating heroic images of themselves for posterity. Here are some more recent truths concerning faulty weight and balance:
