Narrative:

On the [load plan] was listed 5 hazmat items; dry ice; for the manual pit; pit 51. As per regulation; I had loaded 15 bags with the hazmat items to surround them. Also; in the manual pit was an aog shipment for a total of 21 items. The scanner I was using was showing 21 items in pit 51. I was not able to finalize the [load plan] and kept getting error messages. I called [load planning] and talked to [a load planner] and she was telling me that I did not have enough bags in the manual pit to secure the hazmat items. I explained that my scanner is showing 21 items scanned into the manual pit. There are 15 bags plus the 5 [packages] plus 1 aog for a total of 21. She kept insisting that there are not enough bags there. I then asked help from [a ramp agent] and he had called [load planning] and was also being told by her the same problem. He was telling her that the count for the [packages] are not included for the bag count that is listed in the [load plan]. They are listed under the remarks as [package] 5:5. Meaning 5 items for a total weight of 5 lbs. Because they were checked in as cargo; they are not being counted as bags. That is why they are not added to the total bag count into the manual pit. She kept insisting there are not enough bags in the manual pit and would not do anything to help finalize the [load plan]. He had also said there must be a computer program issue; but she said no. I then went to the [ramp] supervisor; and he had called [load planning] and was being told the same thing. [The load planner] kept insisting that the flight needs to be finalized. She then wanted [the ramp supervisor] to change the number of bag and increase it so the [load plan] can be finalized. To complete the issue; the [load plan] was changed to 24 bags in pit 51 and was finalized.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Airline Ground Personnel reported a communication breakdown with Load Planning regarding final departure documents required for aircraft departure. Specific issue was the interpretation of bag count for the load plan.

Narrative: On the [load plan] was listed 5 Hazmat items; dry ice; for the manual pit; pit 51. As per regulation; I had loaded 15 bags with the Hazmat items to surround them. Also; in the manual pit was an AOG shipment for a total of 21 items. The scanner I was using was showing 21 items in pit 51. I was not able to finalize the [Load Plan] and kept getting error messages. I called [Load Planning] and talked to [a Load Planner] and she was telling me that I did not have enough bags in the manual pit to secure the Hazmat items. I explained that my scanner is showing 21 items scanned into the manual pit. There are 15 bags plus the 5 [packages] plus 1 AOG for a total of 21. She kept insisting that there are not enough bags there. I then asked help from [a Ramp Agent] and he had called [Load Planning] and was also being told by her the same problem. He was telling her that the count for the [packages] are not included for the bag count that is listed in the [Load Plan]. They are listed under the Remarks as [package] 5:5. Meaning 5 items for a total weight of 5 lbs. Because they were checked in as cargo; they are not being counted as bags. That is why they are not added to the total bag count into the manual pit. She kept insisting there are not enough bags in the manual pit and would not do anything to help finalize the [Load Plan]. He had also said there must be a computer program issue; but she said no. I then went to the [Ramp] Supervisor; and he had called [Load Planning] and was being told the same thing. [The Load Planner] kept insisting that the flight needs to be finalized. She then wanted [the Ramp Supervisor] to change the number of bag and increase it so the [Load Plan] can be finalized. To complete the issue; the [Load Plan] was changed to 24 bags in pit 51 and was finalized.

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.