El Al 787 struggled to lift off after 40t weight-data error

Israeli investigators have determined that a 40t weight error in take-off performance calculations caused an El Al Boeing 787-9 to struggle to become airborne from Tel Aviv. Analysis of the preparations for the March 29 flight to Newark found that the captain had entered a zero-fuel weight of 128t, some 40t lower than the actual figure of 168t. The twinjet rotated at 154kt, less than its minimum-unstick speed, when it would otherwise have been travelling at around 175kt. Israel’s air accident investigation authority states that the rotation speed was roughly that of the 787’s stall speed. As a result, it says, the aircraft responded “lazily” to the rotation command and failed to lift off until its speed increased. The geometry of the situation caused a tail-strike protection system to activate. <br/>