Fix SimBrief fuel and payload not importing into the MSFS ATR. Use the correct aircraft profile, block fuel, units and a separate loading step.
In Microsoft Flight Simulator’s ATR, a SimBrief OFP import can load the route without applying the aircraft’s physical fuel and payload. Generate a fresh OFP for the correct ATR variant, import it, then apply block fuel and payload separately through the ATR load page or MSFS Weight and Balance menu.
Fix the ATR load in the correct order
- Generate a new OFP for the right ATR. Match the ATR 42 or ATR 72 variant you will fly. If you change the route, passengers, cargo or fuel, regenerate the OFP rather than expecting the ATR to retrieve unsaved changes. Our guide to building and checking a SimBrief plan for MSFS explains why an old OFP or mismatched profile produces the wrong load.
- Import the latest OFP after entering the cockpit. Confirm that the SimBrief identifier configured in the relevant EFB or aircraft settings belongs to the account containing that OFP. If the route appears correctly, the account connection is working; the remaining problem is the separate loading stage.
- Use one load manager. Prefer the ATR’s aircraft-specific loading page when it is available. Otherwise, enter the load through MSFS Weight and Balance using the process covered in our practical fuel and payload loading guide. Do not set one load in the ATR and then overwrite it from the simulator menu.
- Apply the imported targets. An import may fill planned values without changing the tanks or cabin. Use the page’s load, apply, boarding or refuelling control where one is provided; the exact wording varies between ATR and simulator updates. If there is no such control, enter the figures manually.
- Initialise the FMS last. Check the aircraft’s actual fuel, gross weight and centre of gravity before entering or confirming its FMS weight data. Typing zero-fuel weight into the FMS supports performance calculations; it does not physically add passengers or cargo.
Why does the route import but fuel and payload do not?
Route transfer, FMS initialisation and aircraft loading are three different operations. This separation is normal and does not by itself indicate a broken SimBrief connection.
| Operation | What it changes |
|---|---|
| Import OFP or send route to avionics | Flight plan and available dispatch data |
| Enter FMS weight figures | Navigation and performance calculations |
| Load or apply fuel and payload | Physical tank quantities, passenger or cargo stations, gross weight and CG |
In MSFS 2024, importing a plan into the simulator EFB or sending it to the avionics does not guarantee that every aircraft will consume its fuel and payload data. Aircraft-specific integration controls that behaviour; our explanation of how the MSFS 2024 EFB hands a SimBrief plan to an aircraft covers that distinction. In MSFS 2020, the same basic rule applies when using the ATR tablet and the simulator’s Weight and Balance menu.
Which SimBrief figures should go into the ATR?
Load block fuel, not trip fuel, and use payload rather than zero-fuel weight. The mistake we see constantly is entering a dispatch total into a field that expects one component of that total.
| SimBrief figure | How to use it |
|---|---|
| Block fuel | Fuel at the stand, including taxi, trip, reserve and any planned extra fuel |
| Trip fuel | Planned flight burn only; do not use this as the departure fuel load |
| Payload | Use only where the loader asks for total payload |
| Passengers and cargo or baggage | Use the OFP breakdown where the ATR asks for individual stations or passenger counts |
| Zero-fuel weight | A cross-check or FMS input, not the amount of payload to load |
| Take-off weight | An expected result after taxi fuel is burned, not a loading input |
Check kilograms against pounds before changing anything. A value interpreted in the wrong unit can exceed the ATR’s structural or tank limits and may be rejected, capped or distributed incorrectly. Follow our instructions for checking fuel and payload units in MSFS if the displayed numbers differ sharply from the OFP.
Why does the ATR reject or reset the imported load?
The ATR will not necessarily accept a dispatch load that exceeds the selected variant’s capacity or mass limits. A plan made for an ATR 72 can therefore fail or be altered when loaded into an ATR 42, even though the route itself imports normally.
- The value changes immediately: check the aircraft variant, kilograms versus pounds, tank capacity and permitted zero-fuel or gross weight.
- The value changes after opening another menu: the second loader has probably overwritten the first. Load from either the ATR page or MSFS, then leave the other untouched.
- The target appears but the aircraft remains unchanged: start the available boarding or refuelling process and let it finish. Entering a target is not always the same as applying it.
- The load resets when the flight begins: spawn into the cockpit first and apply the final load there; pre-flight world-map values may be replaced during aircraft initialisation.
- The OFP still shows an old load: regenerate it after every payload or fuel change, then import again.
What if nothing imports from SimBrief?
If neither the route nor dispatch data appears, troubleshoot the SimBrief connection rather than the load manager. Confirm that an OFP has actually been generated, recheck the account identifier requested by the EFB, restore the simulator’s online connection, and request the plan again.
If the route imports but fuel and payload remain unchanged, stop reconnecting the account. That result proves the OFP was retrieved; use block fuel and the load-sheet payload manually, apply them through one loading system, and verify the resulting zero-fuel weight, gross weight and CG before departure.