Read the cargo brief before moving a crate
A plane can need hangar work as well as passenger checks. This Airport Contraband cargo control guide follows the documented transfer routine: read the cargo brief, move arriving crates from the plane to the truck, and move departing crates from the truck to the aircraft's loading area. Departing cargo also needs the loading lever after you leave the crane.
The official Cargo Handling overview explains that the daily brief identifies the shipments you must transfer. Use that brief to distinguish one load's crate count from the full set of loads scheduled for the plane.
Player experience in both the Prologue and a later prerelease playthrough shows arriving and departing cargo being handled as separate parts of the same workflow. Do not assume moving the first crate completes the entire plane.
Transfer arriving and departing loads in the correct direction
For an arriving load, use the crane computer to move the crate from the plane's loading area to the waiting truck. For a departing load, move the crate from the truck to the loading area beside the aircraft.
The recorded tutorial then requires you to:
- Place the departing crate in the loading area.
- Exit crane mode.
- Pull the loading lever.
- Continue with the remaining cargo shown in the brief.
Leaving the crate near the aircraft is not the same as completing the lever step. The player demonstrations explicitly separate placing cargo from loading it.
The October 29 Hotfix #2 adjusted crane bindings for both keyboard and controller. Follow your current on-screen control prompts when operating the crane instead of treating a Prologue video's button list as permanent.
React to malfunctions without sacrificing the shipment
The developer's cargo overview names reversed controls and excessive clamp pressure as handling hazards. In the recorded tutorial, a fault can require you to release the crate promptly instead of continuing to grip it until it is damaged.
Respond to the malfunction prompt you are given. A movement problem and a clamp problem are not necessarily solved by the same action.
There is also a separately documented historical physics issue: the crane could become trapped inside the plane. In an October 14 explanation, the developer described restricting movement, adjusting physics, and disabling collisions between the crane and aircraft. That is a specific repaired case, not evidence that every crate problem has the same cause.
Deal with suspicious animal shipments
Not every load is ordinary freight. The official overview describes tarp-covered shipments and capybaras being smuggled in cages.
Player experience in the cargo tutorial shows the intervention sequence: uncover the suspicious tarp, free the capybara, then use the crane to put the empty cage into the scrap container. Do not send the animal onward as though the cage were a regular shipment.
This animal-handling intervention is distinct from later inspection systems involving cargo documents, tools, or hidden contraband. Complete the specific inspection your active path requires rather than assuming that moving a box alone covers every possible cargo check.
Finish the plane's work before requesting clearance
Check the cargo brief again once the visible transfers seem finished. If the plane also carries passengers, their controls still matter.
In the recorded player experience, the intercom refuses clearance when hangar control is incomplete. Use that response as a reason to review unfinished loads and required interventions before attempting departure again.
Speed perks can help with the workload, but they change different things. Turbo Crane increases movement speed; Executive Priority adds a separate teleport button for sending crates to their destination. Neither name by itself means an incomplete control has been approved.
FAQ
Where does departing cargo go?
Move it from the truck to the plane's loading area. The tutorial then requires you to exit the crane and pull the loading lever.
What do I do with a smuggled capybara?
The documented tutorial frees the animal and disposes of the empty cage in the scrap container.
Why does the intercom say hangar control is incomplete?
Review the cargo brief and any unfinished transfer, loading-lever step, or special intervention. The recorded workflow requires the plane's cargo work to be completed before departure clearance.