Narrative:

The first officer was attempting to have his wife accompany him on the overnight. The flight was not heavily booked and no problem was expected. Dispatch gave us a heavy load of fuel and with the number of standby passenger ahead of her and the number of revenue passenger of the later flight who were trying to get on our flight, the numbers changed quite a bit. She had boarded the flight with her husband and the flight attendant. They were aware of the situation as far as being able to make the flight. After the agent came on the airplane, she told the first officer it all depended on the number of bags if his wife would be able to go. The bags came quite late and in the rush there was apparently a little bit of confusion concerning the head count. When we did the paperwork, we found out that we were overweight, so they took the first officer's wife off the flight. We finished all the paperwork and taxied out of the gate. About 20-25 mins later, operations called us during our takeoff roll. We always monitor the frequency, that's why we heard them call. We ignored their call. Several mins later, when the first officer called our off time in, we were asked about the number of people we had on board. The flight attendant was called and a head count requested. It turned out that we had 1 more person on board than what the manifest showed. After conferring with operations we realized that when the flight attendant gave the agent the head count, he had not included the first officer's wife, since it was not definite if she would go. As far as we and the agent knew, the first officer's wife had been included in the head count. So when we told the agent that she had to take 1 off the airplane, in reality 2 people should have been taken off. The 1 non-revenue who was not in the passenger count and 1 of the non-revenue passenger who were in the head count. I told the flight attendant after landing what had happened and in the future to include everybody in the head count who was sitting in the airplane. After we realized what had happened, we went over the numbers again. We had been 10 pounds under maximum ramp weight, revised we were 160 pounds over. Takeoff weight had been 1 pound under maximum allowable takeoff weight, revised due to a higher taxi burn than had been calculated, we were actually 40 pounds over maximum allowable takeoff weight. Maximum landing weight was determined not to be a problem. We called maintenance to see if there was a required inspection for overweight ramp or takeoff operations. They looked into it and informed us the only time an overweight inspection had to be made, was with an overweight landing situation. We therefore decided to continue to our destination, since returning to our departure point would have put us in an overweight landing situation. After landing I called dispatch and told them what had happened and if there was any paperwork that they had to fill in. He told me they did not. In the future in this kind of situation I will have to be more aware of the preciseness of the head count and start asking some questions to prevent a situation from happening again. The airplane flew very well according to my first officer, but in 2 weeks when I have some simulator time coming up, I can find out what would have happened if we had lost an engine.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: RAMP OP WT LIMITATION CONFUSION REGARDING THE WT MANIFEST AND WT AND BAL.

Narrative: THE FO WAS ATTEMPTING TO HAVE HIS WIFE ACCOMPANY HIM ON THE OVERNIGHT. THE FLT WAS NOT HEAVILY BOOKED AND NO PROB WAS EXPECTED. DISPATCH GAVE US A HVY LOAD OF FUEL AND WITH THE NUMBER OF STANDBY PAX AHEAD OF HER AND THE NUMBER OF REVENUE PAX OF THE LATER FLT WHO WERE TRYING TO GET ON OUR FLT, THE NUMBERS CHANGED QUITE A BIT. SHE HAD BOARDED THE FLT WITH HER HUSBAND AND THE FLT ATTENDANT. THEY WERE AWARE OF THE SIT AS FAR AS BEING ABLE TO MAKE THE FLT. AFTER THE AGENT CAME ON THE AIRPLANE, SHE TOLD THE FO IT ALL DEPENDED ON THE NUMBER OF BAGS IF HIS WIFE WOULD BE ABLE TO GO. THE BAGS CAME QUITE LATE AND IN THE RUSH THERE WAS APPARENTLY A LITTLE BIT OF CONFUSION CONCERNING THE HEAD COUNT. WHEN WE DID THE PAPERWORK, WE FOUND OUT THAT WE WERE OVERWT, SO THEY TOOK THE FO'S WIFE OFF THE FLT. WE FINISHED ALL THE PAPERWORK AND TAXIED OUT OF THE GATE. ABOUT 20-25 MINS LATER, OPS CALLED US DURING OUR TKOF ROLL. WE ALWAYS MONITOR THE FREQ, THAT'S WHY WE HEARD THEM CALL. WE IGNORED THEIR CALL. SEVERAL MINS LATER, WHEN THE FO CALLED OUR OFF TIME IN, WE WERE ASKED ABOUT THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WE HAD ON BOARD. THE FLT ATTENDANT WAS CALLED AND A HEAD COUNT REQUESTED. IT TURNED OUT THAT WE HAD 1 MORE PERSON ON BOARD THAN WHAT THE MANIFEST SHOWED. AFTER CONFERRING WITH OPS WE REALIZED THAT WHEN THE FLT ATTENDANT GAVE THE AGENT THE HEAD COUNT, HE HAD NOT INCLUDED THE FO'S WIFE, SINCE IT WAS NOT DEFINITE IF SHE WOULD GO. AS FAR AS WE AND THE AGENT KNEW, THE FO'S WIFE HAD BEEN INCLUDED IN THE HEAD COUNT. SO WHEN WE TOLD THE AGENT THAT SHE HAD TO TAKE 1 OFF THE AIRPLANE, IN REALITY 2 PEOPLE SHOULD HAVE BEEN TAKEN OFF. THE 1 NON-REVENUE WHO WAS NOT IN THE PAX COUNT AND 1 OF THE NON-REVENUE PAX WHO WERE IN THE HEAD COUNT. I TOLD THE FLT ATTENDANT AFTER LNDG WHAT HAD HAPPENED AND IN THE FUTURE TO INCLUDE EVERYBODY IN THE HEAD COUNT WHO WAS SITTING IN THE AIRPLANE. AFTER WE REALIZED WHAT HAD HAPPENED, WE WENT OVER THE NUMBERS AGAIN. WE HAD BEEN 10 LBS UNDER MAX RAMP WT, REVISED WE WERE 160 LBS OVER. TKOF WT HAD BEEN 1 LB UNDER MAX ALLOWABLE TKOF WT, REVISED DUE TO A HIGHER TAXI BURN THAN HAD BEEN CALCULATED, WE WERE ACTUALLY 40 LBS OVER MAX ALLOWABLE TKOF WT. MAX LNDG WT WAS DETERMINED NOT TO BE A PROB. WE CALLED MAINT TO SEE IF THERE WAS A REQUIRED INSPECTION FOR OVERWT RAMP OR TKOF OPS. THEY LOOKED INTO IT AND INFORMED US THE ONLY TIME AN OVERWT INSPECTION HAD TO BE MADE, WAS WITH AN OVERWT LNDG SIT. WE THEREFORE DECIDED TO CONTINUE TO OUR DEST, SINCE RETURNING TO OUR DEP POINT WOULD HAVE PUT US IN AN OVERWT LNDG SIT. AFTER LNDG I CALLED DISPATCH AND TOLD THEM WHAT HAD HAPPENED AND IF THERE WAS ANY PAPERWORK THAT THEY HAD TO FILL IN. HE TOLD ME THEY DID NOT. IN THE FUTURE IN THIS KIND OF SIT I WILL HAVE TO BE MORE AWARE OF THE PRECISENESS OF THE HEAD COUNT AND START ASKING SOME QUESTIONS TO PREVENT A SIT FROM HAPPENING AGAIN. THE AIRPLANE FLEW VERY WELL ACCORDING TO MY FO, BUT IN 2 WKS WHEN I HAVE SOME SIMULATOR TIME COMING UP, I CAN FIND OUT WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF WE HAD LOST AN ENG.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.