Narrative:

Dangerous goods [issue]. Again. Scheduled push at XA18Z. At XX44Z ACARS prints a weight manifest that shows 'dangerous goods yes'. I notified captain of this and we both said we'd make sure to get the dangerous goods (dg) form onboard before we pushed. At XA01Z our flight service info report automatically prints and it too shows 'hazmat- yes'. Ten minutes to pushback; we call ZZZ operations (operations) and tell them we still don't have a dangerous goods form and to please find out the status. About 15 minutes later; operations tells us 'the dangerous goods were not boarded on your flight'. At XA31Z; we print another weight manifest from ACARS. It still shows 'dangerous goods yes'. I tell the captain I'm not comfortable with a verbal from operations when our legally required paperwork is telling us the opposite. At XA34Z we send an ACARS to load planning: 'operations saying dg was not boarded. Weight manifest still shows it. Pls take it off paperwork if dg not boarded'. At XA37Z; load planning ACARS: 'I'm showing dg still onboard. Who's telling you it's not?' at XA38Z; we send ACARS to load planning 'operations is saying dg not boarded. Pls call them and sort it out.' at XA42Z; load planning ACARS: 'they took it off the loading (dstg).' satisfied that all our carrier's departments are in agreement; we block out at XA42Z confident that the dangerous good's [had] been removed from our flight. At XA46Z; we pushback; start engines and call for taxi. We're cleared to taxi. While taxiing; ZZZ operations/ramp radios and asks us to hold. They say 'ramp's coming out'. They don't say why. We figure it's because of the dangerous goods situation and shutdown #2. Ramp checks in. They say they're going to verify the dangerous goods is not boarded. They open the cargo door and within two minutes they find the box of dangerous goods on board! Ramp removed the dangerous goods from our flight. This incident is part of a greater safety trend. Just a little over a year ago I wrote an eerily similar report to this one. They both involved missing dangerous goods forms; a crew query to operations and then an untrue (but confidently delivered) answer from operations that everything is ok. The only reason that we didn't illegally take the dangerous goods on our flight this time was because we brought load planning into the loop. Even then; operations briefly bullied load planning into believing it had been taken off. We have a hole in our dangerous goods procedures. Operations are the hub for all the decision-making; but who's watching operations? They seem to be spring-loaded to assure crews that every thing's normal but just how are they checking that as fact? They just seem to be guessing (wrongly) sometimes. Who catches operations if they wrongly assert that there is not dangerous goods onboard? Based on these two incidents; I think that our carrier needs a feedback loop in our dangerous goods procedures to check if someone (operations) has made a mistake. I kept all the ACARS messages and weight manifests if you'd like to see them.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757 First Officer describes the continuing battle with the company over proper dangerous goods paper work. In this instance the crew is asked to hold their position after beginning to taxi so that ramp personnel can remove the DG items that the crew was assured were 'not on board'.

Narrative: Dangerous Goods [issue]. Again. Scheduled push at XA18Z. At XX44Z ACARS prints a weight manifest that shows 'DANGEROUS GOODS YES'. I notified Captain of this and we both said we'd make sure to get the Dangerous Goods (DG) form onboard before we pushed. At XA01Z our Flight Service Info report automatically prints and it too shows 'HAZMAT- YES'. Ten minutes to pushback; we call ZZZ Operations (OPS) and tell them we still don't have a Dangerous Goods form and to please find out the status. About 15 minutes later; Operations tells us 'the Dangerous Goods were not boarded on your flight'. At XA31Z; we print another weight manifest from ACARS. It still shows 'DANGEROUS GOODS YES'. I tell the Captain I'm not comfortable with a verbal from Operations when our legally required paperwork is telling us the opposite. At XA34Z we send an ACARS to Load Planning: 'OPS SAYING DG WAS NOT BOARDED. WEIGHT MANIFEST STILL SHOWS IT. PLS TAKE IT OFF PAPERWORK IF DG NOT BOARDED'. At XA37Z; Load Planning ACARS: 'I'M SHOWING DG STILL ONBOARD. WHO'S TELLING YOU IT'S NOT?' At XA38Z; we send ACARS to Load Planning 'OPS IS SAYING DG NOT BOARDED. PLS CALL THEM AND SORT IT OUT.' At XA42Z; Load Planning ACARS: 'THEY TOOK IT OFF THE LOADING (DSTG).' Satisfied that all our carrier's departments are in agreement; we block out at XA42Z confident that the Dangerous Good's [had] been removed from our flight. At XA46Z; we pushback; start engines and call for taxi. We're cleared to taxi. While taxiing; ZZZ Operations/Ramp radios and asks us to hold. They say 'ramp's coming out'. They don't say why. We figure it's because of the Dangerous Goods situation and shutdown #2. Ramp checks in. They say they're going to verify the Dangerous Goods is not boarded. They open the cargo door and within two minutes they find the box of Dangerous Goods on board! Ramp removed the Dangerous Goods from our flight. This incident is part of a greater safety trend. Just a little over a year ago I wrote an eerily similar report to this one. They both involved missing Dangerous Goods forms; a crew query to Operations and then an untrue (but confidently delivered) answer from Operations that everything is OK. The only reason that we didn't illegally take the Dangerous Goods on our flight this time was because we brought Load Planning into the loop. Even then; Operations briefly bullied Load Planning into believing it had been taken off. We have a hole in our Dangerous Goods procedures. Operations are the hub for all the decision-making; but who's watching Operations? They seem to be spring-loaded to assure crews that every thing's normal but just HOW are they checking that as fact? They just seem to be guessing (wrongly) sometimes. Who catches Operations if they wrongly assert that there is NOT Dangerous Goods onboard? Based on these two incidents; I think that our carrier needs a feedback loop in our Dangerous Goods procedures to check if someone (Operations) has made a mistake. I kept all the ACARS messages and weight manifests if you'd like to see them.

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.