Narrative:

A very sharp flight attendant #1 informed me we had a passenger sitting in first class that was not on her paperwork. She checked his boarding pass and determined that he was indeed supposed to situation there. We called operations and told them of this problem. They told us that he was entitled to situation there and we would receive a new closeout showing a revised passenger count. Somehow, this passenger was able to board the aircraft without passing our security procedures. If not for a very sharp flight attendant, that passenger would have traveled totally undetected as we were about to take off. A positive passenger count needs to be taken on every flight to be sure we have not one to many or too few passenger. The security 'ok' statement at the bottom of my closeout is totally worthless.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 CABIN ATTENDANT DISCOVERED JUST BEFORE PUSH BACK THAT ONE FIRST CLASS PAX WAS NOT LISTED ON THE MANIFEST, BUT DID HAVE A PROPER BOARDING PASS. COMPANY OPS ISSUED AMENDED PAX MANIFEST.

Narrative: A VERY SHARP FLT ATTENDANT #1 INFORMED ME WE HAD A PAX SITTING IN FIRST CLASS THAT WAS NOT ON HER PAPERWORK. SHE CHKED HIS BOARDING PASS AND DETERMINED THAT HE WAS INDEED SUPPOSED TO SIT THERE. WE CALLED OPS AND TOLD THEM OF THIS PROB. THEY TOLD US THAT HE WAS ENTITLED TO SIT THERE AND WE WOULD RECEIVE A NEW CLOSEOUT SHOWING A REVISED PAX COUNT. SOMEHOW, THIS PAX WAS ABLE TO BOARD THE ACFT WITHOUT PASSING OUR SECURITY PROCS. IF NOT FOR A VERY SHARP FLT ATTENDANT, THAT PAX WOULD HAVE TRAVELED TOTALLY UNDETECTED AS WE WERE ABOUT TO TAKE OFF. A POSITIVE PAX COUNT NEEDS TO BE TAKEN ON EVERY FLT TO BE SURE WE HAVE NOT ONE TO MANY OR TOO FEW PAX. THE SECURITY 'OK' STATEMENT AT THE BOTTOM OF MY CLOSEOUT IS TOTALLY WORTHLESS.

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.