Narrative:

After departing gate; we taxied to the runway. We accomplished flows; flight control checks and taxi checklist. First officer (first officer) had paperwork he was reading from for takeoff data; but as we discovered after takeoff; he was reading from the preliminary and not the closeout. We were a little rushed being number 2 for takeoff after a 9 minute taxi; but not what I would say in the yellow. After takeoff we got a message from dispatch. This was our first awareness that we had taken off without a closeout. We immediately requested a closeout but didn't get one for over 4 hours and 30 minutes. Luckily we took off 700 pounds lighter than the numbers that were used. We never got any alerts from the FMC indicating there was any abnormalities with our takeoff data. We all couldn't believe that we departed without a closeout. First officer said he was busy monitoring our taxi and just simply didn't realize that we didn't have a closeout. International relief officer just assumed first officer had one.causes were a short taxi and lack of communication between 3 pilots. I as the captain was focusing on taxiing at night and accomplishing check list. I have always thought that it was procedure for the first officer and international relief officer to go over closeout entries; but after discussing this with my crew; I found that this happens about 50 percent of the time. I realize that the captain is supposed to discuss the closeout with the first officer but in reality the captain usually is heads outside while taxiing and depends on the international relief officer and first officer to review it. This is the first time this has happened to me in 35 years. I believe that a policy should be in place that the first officer and international relief officer; (if one is on board) should review the closeout as procedure; or hand closeout to captain if possible on a flight with a two man crew. Previously; we didn't have data to enter until we got a final weight and balance. The system now can set you up to takeoff without a closeout.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The A330 crew departed without their final weight and balance.

Narrative: After departing gate; we taxied to the runway. We accomplished flows; flight control checks and taxi checklist. First Officer (FO) had paperwork he was reading from for takeoff data; but as we discovered after takeoff; he was reading from the preliminary and not the closeout. We were a little rushed being number 2 for takeoff after a 9 minute taxi; but not what I would say in the yellow. After takeoff we got a message from dispatch. This was our first awareness that we had taken off without a closeout. We immediately requested a closeout but didn't get one for over 4 hours and 30 minutes. Luckily we took off 700 pounds lighter than the numbers that were used. We never got any alerts from the FMC indicating there was any abnormalities with our takeoff data. We all couldn't believe that we departed without a closeout. FO said he was busy monitoring our taxi and just simply didn't realize that we didn't have a closeout. IRO just assumed FO had one.Causes were a short taxi and lack of communication between 3 pilots. I as the Captain was focusing on taxiing at night and accomplishing check list. I have always thought that it was procedure for the FO and IRO to go over closeout entries; but after discussing this with my crew; I found that this happens about 50 percent of the time. I realize that the Captain is supposed to discuss the closeout with the FO but in reality the Captain usually is heads outside while taxiing and depends on the IRO and FO to review it. This is the first time this has happened to me in 35 years. I believe that a policy should be in place that the FO and IRO; (if one is on board) should review the closeout as procedure; or hand closeout to captain if possible on a flight with a two man crew. Previously; we didn't have data to enter until we got a final weight and balance. The system now can set you up to takeoff without a closeout.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.