A miscommunication between the flight deck and ground personnel resulted in a crj-200 taking off wit...

Narrative:

I performed a manual cg calculation using the cg calculator. The flight was full with 50 passengers. I determined that ballast would be needed to meet forward cg limitations; and decided that 300 pounds would be sufficient. I requested 400 pounds to allow for any errors made with the cg calculator. I spoke directly to a ramp agent and requested 400 pounds of ballast. After takeoff ATC informed us that operations had contacted them about an incorrect amount of ballast loaded. Apparently the ramp agent thought I was asking for four bags of ballast; which is only 200 pounds. I may not have been perfectly clear when I requested the ballast. Further; I did not verify that the correct amount had been loaded before closing the main door. Also; I entered the ballast weight on the weight and balance page myself. Apparently the station noticed the amount that I entered after we blocked out; and they were unable to reach us by radio since we had the radios tuned to CTAF and the FSS. After being notified of the information by ATC I contacted operations via radio. They explained that only 200 pounds had been loaded. The aircraft was flying normally so we continued to destination without further event. I should have made my request more clear; verified the correct loading after they were finished; and shown the corrected weight and balance document to the ramp agent after I made the changes.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A miscommunication between the flight deck and ground personnel resulted in a CRJ-200 taking off with only half of the required weight and balance ballast aboard.

Narrative: I performed a manual CG calculation using the CG calculator. The flight was full with 50 passengers. I determined that ballast would be needed to meet forward CG limitations; and decided that 300 pounds would be sufficient. I requested 400 pounds to allow for any errors made with the CG calculator. I spoke directly to a Ramp Agent and requested 400 pounds of ballast. After takeoff ATC informed us that Operations had contacted them about an incorrect amount of ballast loaded. Apparently the Ramp Agent thought I was asking for four bags of ballast; which is only 200 pounds. I may not have been perfectly clear when I requested the ballast. Further; I did not verify that the correct amount had been loaded before closing the main door. Also; I entered the ballast weight on the weight and balance page myself. Apparently the station noticed the amount that I entered after we blocked out; and they were unable to reach us by radio since we had the radios tuned to CTAF and the FSS. After being notified of the information by ATC I contacted Operations via radio. They explained that only 200 pounds had been loaded. The aircraft was flying normally so we continued to destination without further event. I should have made my request more clear; verified the correct loading after they were finished; and shown the corrected weight and balance document to the Ramp Agent after I made the changes.

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.

Attributes
ACN	873375
Time
Date	201002
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural Weight And Balance

A miscommunication between the flight deck and ground personnel resulted in a crj-200 taking off with only half of the required weight and balance ballast aboard.