weight, with its center of gravity 5% to the rear of the allowable limit. Neither problem alone would have caused the loss of control, which explains why it had previously been flown without incident and had safely departed Huntington, West Virginia. Aftermath The NTSB report included 21 safety recommendations. As a result of the weight issues discovered, the FAA planned to investigate and potentially revise estimated weight values, which had not been done since 1936. Air Midwest used an average weight of 200 lb (90.7 kg) per passenger after the accident, but the NTSB suggests that airlines use actual weights instead of average. About 70% of small air carriers still use average. Air Midwest publicly apologized for the incident after the family of one crash victim pressured the airline to do so. Air Midwest ceased operations in 2008. A memorial for the victims is located outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. Dramatization The crash was featured in season five of the Canadian-made, internationally distributed documentary series Mayday, in an episode titled "Dead Weight". Images Notes See also Ryan Air Services Flight 103, a crash of a Beechcraft 1900C in 1987 that was overloaded and a center of gravity too aft from specifications. JS Air Flight 201 National Airlines Flight 102 UTA Flight 141 Fine Air Flight 101, a cargo flight where a weight imbalance was a major contributor. References External links STATEMENT BY US AIRWAYS PRESIDENT AND CEO DAVID SIEGEL ON AIR MIDWEST ACCIDENT (Archive) US Airways Incident Involving US Airways Express Flight 5481 Operated by Air Midwest, Inc. (Archive) Mesa Airlines Investigators check black boxes from N.C. plane crash Cockpit Voice Recorder transcript and accident summary Pre-crash photo of N233YV (Archive) Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States in 2003 2003 in North Carolina History of Charlotte, North Carolina Airliner accidents and incidents in North Carolina Airliner accidents and incidents caused by maintenance errors Disasters in North Carolina 5481 Accidents and incidents involving the Beechcraft 1900 January 2003 events in the United States Charlotte Douglas International Airport Airliner accidents and incidents caused by stalls