Investigation reports » Ukraine Airlines

Date: 3rd Feb 2017

Investigation Report: Ukraine Boeing 737-900 tail tip incident due to lack of procedures

Ukraine Airlines Boeing 737-900, flight PS781 landed at Tel Aviv-Ben Gurion Airport, Israel from Kiev Ukraine. The aircraft was attached to the air bridge and between 20:25 and 20:28 all luggage was offloaded from the forward cargo hold.
At 20:29 offloading from the rear cargo hold was interrupted due to a technical problem with the conveyor belt. At the same time passengers from the forward cabin disembarked through the forward passenger door.
Starting at 20:30 the nose landing gear began to rise until the rear fuselage contacted the platform. The passenger door was damaged. 

Reasons found
1. Low airplane weight combined with aft center of gravity. 
2. Very low fuel load or full main tanks with empty center tank. 
3. The aft half of the main cabin full and the forward half empty 
4. Aft lower cargo hold full and forward lower cargo hold empty. 
5. Location and number of crew, and ground service personnel on the airplane. 
6. Large airplane nose-up horizontal stabilizer trim. 
7. External conditions such as inclined ramps and weather conditions. 

And recommendations on aircraft stability on the ground from Boeing and IATA were not fully adopted by Ukraine International Airlines with respect to Boeng 737-900 operations. 

The Israeli accident investigation board AIAI recommended Ukraine Airlines to use tail stands where applicable and possible, during the loading or unloading of aircraft. The airline was also advised to make a detailed procedure to maintain ground stability. 

Ref: Aviation Safety Net
For full report: http://aiai.mot.gov.il/REPORT/RAI_45-16.pdf