Narrative:

While at the gate in ZZZ; I noticed the fuel was below legal mins arriving at destination. I called dispatch and while on the phone; first officer told me he had put 67000 lbs ZFW [zero fuel weight] (average ZFW based on experience) in the FMS instead of the pzfw of 51640 lbs on the release; not realizing the error on the release; of a projected payload 1700 lbs; I told the dispatcher we made a mistake since the FMS showed us landing with 4000 lbs with the pzfw [projected zero fuel weight]. After final numbers; our ZFW was much closer to the figure my first officer had placed to begin with. The projected numbers for fuel were between 2000 lbs and 2200 lbs of fuel. Not having caught the error regarding the payload; I determined this lower fuel estimate was due to my conservative wind estimate plus the step climbs down the road. Shortly after departing the airspace; the projected fuel went down to 1700-1800 lbs. Even taking the step climb early and getting a more accurate assessment of the winds we could not get the fuel at destination to go above 2000 lbs. I took a second look at the paperwork and realized the error regarding the expected payload. At this point; we decided to communicate with dispatch that we may need a fuel stop. After some coordination; we opted to divert to ZZZ1; fueled at the de-ice pad and departed with no further issues. Dispatcher communicated to me that the payload error had been a missing zero on his end; however; I assume the responsibility of not catching this prior to departure. The error could have been mitigated any number of ways. A pzfw of less than 52000 lbs should have set off common sense alarms to me; I also should have investigated further when ACARS showed a discrepancy in pzfw and ZFW; however; I misread the value and thought it was far less. Once the error was caught; the safest course was action to divert; but earlier detection would have presented a more favorable outcome.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier Dispatcher and EMB-175 Captain reported it was necessary to divert to an enroute alternate airport for a fuel stop because an error was made during preflight planning.

Narrative: While at the gate in ZZZ; I noticed the fuel was below legal mins arriving at destination. I called Dispatch and while on the phone; First Officer told me he had put 67000 lbs ZFW [Zero Fuel Weight] (average ZFW based on experience) in the FMS instead of the PZFW of 51640 lbs on the release; Not realizing the error on the release; of a projected payload 1700 lbs; I told the dispatcher we made a mistake since the FMS showed us landing with 4000 lbs with the PZFW [Projected Zero Fuel Weight]. After final numbers; our ZFW was much closer to the figure my First Officer had placed to begin with. The projected numbers for fuel were between 2000 lbs and 2200 lbs of fuel. Not having caught the error regarding the payload; I determined this lower fuel estimate was due to my conservative wind estimate plus the step climbs down the road. Shortly after departing the airspace; the projected fuel went down to 1700-1800 lbs. Even taking the step climb early and getting a more accurate assessment of the winds we could not get the fuel at destination to go above 2000 lbs. I took a second look at the paperwork and realized the error regarding the expected payload. At this point; we decided to communicate with Dispatch that we may need a fuel stop. After some coordination; we opted to divert to ZZZ1; fueled at the de-ice pad and departed with no further issues. Dispatcher communicated to me that the payload error had been a missing zero on his end; however; I assume the responsibility of not catching this prior to departure. The error could have been mitigated any number of ways. A PZFW of less than 52000 lbs should have set off common sense alarms to me; I also should have investigated further when ACARS showed a discrepancy in PZFW and ZFW; however; I misread the value and thought it was far less. Once the error was caught; the safest course was action to divert; but earlier detection would have presented a more favorable outcome.

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.