Loading issue - Boeing 747-438, VH-OJM, Melbourne Airport, 22 December 2011

Discontinued

Section 21 (2) of the Transport Safety Investigation Act 2003 (TSI Act) empowers the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) to discontinue an investigation into a transport safety matter at any time. Section 21 (3) of the TSI Act requires the ATSB to publish a statement setting out the reasons for discontinuing an investigation.

On 3 January 2012, the ATSB commenced an investigation into a loading issue involving a Boeing Company 747-438 aircraft registered VH-OJM, at Melbourne Airport, Vic, on 22 December 2011. Examination of the information collected during the investigation identified that the circumstances of the occurrence were limited to incorrect load data being entered onto the provisional loadsheet. The discrepancy was identified by the flight crew and amended prior to the final loadsheet being produced.
 
The operator advised the ATSB that they had identified the nature of the error and had put in place measures to prevent its reoccurrence.
 
Accordingly, the ATSB decided that there was limited potential to enhance transport safety by continuing this investigation and has elected to discontinue it. However, the data already collected may be used by the ATSB for future statistical analysis and safety research purposes.