An IT glitch caused a Tui flight to take off heavier than expected as female passengers using the title “Miss” were classified as children, an investigation has found.
The departure from Birmingham Airport to the Spanish island of Majorca with 187 passengers on board was described as a “serious incident” by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB).
An update to the airline’s reservation system while its planes were grounded due to the coronavirus pandemic led to 38 passengers on the flight being allocated a child’s “standard weight” of 35kg as opposed to the correct figure of 69kg.
This caused the load sheet – produced for the captain to calculate what inputs are needed for take-off – to state that the Boeing 737 was more than 1,200kg lighter than it actually was.