I came across this image and don't have any details nor do I know the exact reason, but it made me ask myself if passengers boarding to the back first can tip back an airplane?
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1$\begingroup$ Possible duplicate: aviation.stackexchange.com/q/15042/7532 $\endgroup$– Ralph J ♦Commented Apr 4 at 6:12
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1$\begingroup$ Related: aviation.stackexchange.com/q/1659/7532 $\endgroup$– Ralph J ♦Commented Apr 4 at 6:13
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$\begingroup$ Also: aviation.stackexchange.com/q/9975/7532 $\endgroup$– Ralph J ♦Commented Apr 4 at 6:29
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$\begingroup$ The photo is from a 2021 Sept 18 news report: "United flight 2509 flying from Los Angeles, California to Lewiston, Idaho landed without incident. Due to a shift in weight and balance during the offloading process, the tail of the aircraft tipped backward. No injuries were reported among our customers, crew or ground personnel. The return flight will depart on a different aircraft as originally planned." $\endgroup$– Camille GoudeseuneCommented Apr 4 at 18:45
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Not if everything else is normal. Airliners are built with the expectation that they will be boarded to the back first on some airlines.
The CG limits for the 737 are approximately 12%-31% MAC, depending on model, and that is at MTOW. At less than MTOW, the CG can be as far back as 36% MAC. You'd have to put more passengers in the tail end than it's able to normally accommodate - think clown car packing density.
To be specific, taking 173 pax at 200 lbs each, at near-MTOW, having only the tail 20% seated would shift the CG 1730.240%*200/173000 = 1.6% back. The plane shouldn't be just 1.6% away from the limit in the first place. And this assumes a straight tube without an actual tail and aft pressure bulkhead.
To tip the airplane back, it needs to also have very wrong, tail-heavy loading in the cargo/luggage compartment.
