I have nearly 18 yrs ramp experience at London Heathrow as from 2002. This fatal accident was caused by load shift but what kind of load shift for example was the cargo pallets and uld’s locked ? Were they crossed checked ? Was the load positioned according to the comparison of the empty weight of the aircraft then cross checking that each load is acceptable for the aircraft to take off (In other words weight and balance then finding the centre of gravity of the aircraft) ? I think the aircraft was miss loaded or load shift happened that lock down was not done correctly and the cargo shifted this could have happened in the upper deck of the aircraft but the spaces between each pallet and uld is a min which means the load shift does not occur that much when a large pallet may move forward into another pallets of some type or uld or ake. I think the aircraft was not trimmed off correctly like for example when a aircraft tips on ground.

It was a load shift. The plane was carrying 5 MWRAP vehicles (large truck-like vehicles designed to take the blast of an I.E.D.) - one broke loose from it's tie-down straps and carried the rest with it back into the tail section. The steep climb added to it as it was designed to help avoid anti-aircraft missiles on takeoff. Info comes from a friend who has a family member involved in the investigation.

Awful to watch. I can't imagine being a crew member, understanding what was happening and unable to regain control due the low altitude and the CG shift. The aircraft at this field must take off at steeper than normal deck angles to avoid shoulder launched missiles and this steep angle may have contributed to the load shifting aft. The load master will be blamed.