[Philip Argy]

On 20 March 2009, at 2230:49 Eastern Daylight-saving Time (1130:49 UTC), an Airbus A340-541 aircraft, registered A6-ERG, commenced the take-off roll on runway 16 at Melbourne Airport, Vic. on a scheduled 14-hour passenger flight to Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Onboard the aircraft (operating as flight number EK407) were 257 passengers, 14 cabin crew and 4 flight crew.
During the reduced thrust takeoff, the aircraft's tail made contact with the runway surface, but the aircraft did not begin to climb. The captain commanded and selected take-off and go-around engine thrust and the aircraft commenced a climb. After jettisoning fuel to reduce the landing weight, the flight crew returned the aircraft to Melbourne for landing.
The investigation has determined that the pre-flight take-off performance calculations were based on an incorrect take-off weight that was inadvertently entered into the take-off performance software on a laptop computer used by the flight crew. Subsequent crosschecks did not detect the incorrect entry and its effect on performance planning.
As a result of this accident, the aircraft operator has undertaken a number of procedural, training and technical initiatives across its fleet and operations with a view to minimising the risk of a recurrence. In addition, the aircraft manufacturer has released a modified version of its performance-planning tool and is developing a software package that automatically checks the consistency of the flight data being entered into the aircraft's flight computers by flight crews.
The investigation has found a number of similar take-off performance-related incidents and accidents around the world. As a result, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has initiated a safety research project to examine those events. The findings of that project will be released by the ATSB once completed. In the interim, the ATSB has drawn this interim report to the attention of relevant Australian operators to highlight the risks when calculating and checking take-off performance information.

The full report is available at http://www.atsb.gov.au/media/1290040...12_interim.pdf