Airbus Industrie A320-211 , VH-HYK

During the takeoff roll, the Airbus A320 handling pilot needed
to apply full nose-down elevator for a longer time than was normal.
Despite the elevator position, the nosewheel momentarily lifted off
the runway several times before the aircraft became airborne.

The crew did not consider the situation to be a threat to safety
and completed the flight as scheduled. However, as the aircraft was
being unloaded, the nose of the aircraft rose rapidly until the
nose landing gear oleo was fully extended. The crew received the
electronic centralised aircraft monitoring system (ECAM) message
L/G LGCIU 1 AND 2 FAULT. The ground engineer instructed the
catering truck driver to remove the catering truck from door R1
immediately. The cabin crew briefly stopped passenger
disembarkation due to concerns that the step from the aircraft to
the aerobridge was unsafe.

The aircraft carried 136 passengers out of a maximum of 138.
Only two seats in Business Class were empty. The aircraft also
carried 700 kg of freight and 1131 kg of baggage in two forward and
two aft compartments.

The nose landing gear oleo had been slightly over-inflated, but
engineers did not consider that to be a problem requiring
rectification. Prior to the latest inflation, the aircraft had
operated with the leg slightly under-inflated. Engineers stated
that the increase on oleo inflation would not have resulted in the
leg fully extending on the ground.

The loading instruction report (LIR) indicated that the computed
centre of gravity was well within the permissible range, 34.6% mean
aerodynamic chord (MAC) compared to the aft limit of 40% MAC. The
operator had a policy of not exceeding 38% MAC.

The loading gang at the destination reported that there was no
discrepancy between the LIR and the distribution of the load in the
cargo holds. However, loading crews had developed a procedure of
loading priority baggage into the number 1 cargo hold to facilitate
rapid unloading at the destination. Under some circumstances, that
could lead to reduced weight on the nose landing gear until cargo
stowed further aft had been unloaded.