Chain Attachments News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

It could go out of the limits. >> reporter: it is not just the total, but where that weight was positioned on the plane. as part of the draw down in afghanistan, the u.s. has been removing a massive amount of heavy equipment. so this takes off for dubai with five armored vehicles on board. each weighing 13 tons, has to be locked in a certain spot. if one of the chain attachments fail, one loose vehicle could push 20, 30 tons to the rear of the plane. >> a lot of people at home wonder what's the difference between this flight and a 747 they might get on? >> this is a 747 400. a widely used pass...

Caused accidents before, when it has rotateded with the nose up, it is moved aft. >> reporter: cargo is chained down, but if one of the chain attachments fails, it could shift. >> we don't know that that happened here. that has happened in prior accidents. then the airplane becomes uncontrollable. >> reporter: chris lawrence, cnn, washington. >> joining me now is john nance, good to have you on the program. sorry under these circumstances. i've never seen anything like this. it's everybody's nightmare. the plane looks like it just drops out of the sky. and i just want to play the video for you...

Out of the sky. so the pilots need to gain as much altitude as possible while they're still over bagram. a 747 carrying cargo can reach altitude almost two minutes faster. >> the typical concern with a cargo aircraft and this has caused accidents before is when the airplane is rotated with the nose up, the cargo moves aft if it's not properly secured. >> normally the cargo is chained down but if one of the chain attachments fails, it's possible that it could shift. look, this is just one possibility. in a massive shift of weight is much more difficult on a commercial 747 because the passengers...