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A B737-700 flight crew took off with 81 passengers vice the 51 reported by the load planners; passed on to the flight attendants by the gate agent and thence to the flight crew. A subsequent revised weight and balance document was not delivered. The additional passengers increased the takeoff gross weight nearly 6000 pounds over that used for takeoff performance computations.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 863815 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200912 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Dusk |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B737-700 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Climb Parked |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 208 Flight Crew Type 7000 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | First Officer |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 355 Flight Crew Type 6290 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural Weight And Balance |
Narrative:
Our cockpit set up was normal; there was no rushing and the flight was on time. The gate agent gave us a loadsheet showing 51 passengers. The fuel audit checked and all the numbers added correctly. The head flight attendant gave us a napkin which also had 51 passengers. The takeoff and climb were all normal. During our climb one of the flight attendants rang us and said the passenger count was 81. I asked her to verify the count two more times. She still said the count was 81 not 51. The first officer adjusted the zero fuel weight by adding 5;800 lbs to the FMC to account for 30 passenger error. Upon arrival I called operations and spoke to a supervisor. He asked what revision number was on my loadsheet and I replied revision zero. He informed me the loadsheet was revised three times and it was closed out at 81 passengers. So the error occurred when the agent gave us the original loadsheet which was incorrect and the flight attendant did not actually perform a passenger count but instead went off the loadsheet. I spoke with the flight attendants and informed them how important it is to actually perform the count to crosscheck the agent's number.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A B737-700 Flight Crew took off with 81 passengers vice the 51 reported by the load planners; passed on to the Flight Attendants by the Gate Agent and thence to the Flight Crew. A subsequent revised weight and balance document was not delivered. The additional passengers increased the takeoff gross weight nearly 6000 pounds over that used for takeoff performance computations.
Narrative: Our cockpit set up was normal; there was no rushing and the flight was on time. The gate Agent gave us a loadsheet showing 51 Passengers. The fuel audit checked and all the numbers added correctly. The head Flight Attendant gave us a napkin which also had 51 Passengers. The takeoff and climb were all normal. During our climb one of the Flight Attendants rang us and said the passenger count was 81. I asked her to verify the count two more times. She still said the count was 81 not 51. The First Officer adjusted the zero fuel weight by adding 5;800 lbs to the FMC to account for 30 Passenger error. Upon arrival I called Operations and spoke to a Supervisor. He asked what revision number was on my loadsheet and I replied Revision zero. He informed me the loadsheet was revised three times and it was closed out at 81 Passengers. So the error occurred when the Agent gave us the original loadsheet which was incorrect and the Flight Attendant did not actually perform a passenger count but instead went off the loadsheet. I spoke with the Flight Attendants and informed them how important it is to actually perform the count to crosscheck the Agent's number.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.