B767 captain reports taking off from runway 10 at tist with 5800 ft of runway available. Performance...

Narrative:

We got the numbers for a 5800 ft takeoff on runway 10 as was suggested by the tower. As we were taxing onto the runway for takeoff; we were told that there was only 5700 ft available. I asked where the marker was for 5700 ft; and the tower said that there was none. I then how will we know how far to taxi - the tower said that the trucks on either side of the runway were approximately 5700 ft and that we would see the pothole. I then asked where they wanted us to turn around; and the tower said that we could make our turn just prior to the pothole. So; we went past the trucks and turned around at the pothole. After having completed the turn; the nose of the aircraft was still not back to the trucks. Knowing that the aircraft is 155 ft long; we concluded that we had at least 5800 ft for takeoff. That was the distance that we had for the weight & balance numbers for runway 10 (5800 ft). After takeoff; the dispatcher said that we set off all of the company cell phones; insinuating that we had done something wrong. We believe that our takeoff was completely safe and legal.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B767 Captain reports taking off from Runway 10 at TIST with 5800 FT of runway available. Performance calculations were provided by Dispatch; after takeoff the reporter was informed that there may have been an error.

Narrative: We got the numbers for a 5800 FT takeoff on Runway 10 as was suggested by the Tower. As we were taxing onto the runway for takeoff; we were told that there was only 5700 FT available. I asked where the marker was for 5700 FT; and the Tower said that there was none. I then how will we know how far to taxi - the Tower said that the trucks on either side of the runway were approximately 5700 FT and that we would see the pothole. I then asked where they wanted us to turn around; and the Tower said that we could make our turn just prior to the pothole. So; we went past the trucks and turned around at the pothole. After having completed the turn; the nose of the aircraft was still not back to the trucks. Knowing that the aircraft is 155 FT long; we concluded that we had at least 5800 FT for takeoff. That was the distance that we had for the weight & balance numbers for Runway 10 (5800 FT). After takeoff; the Dispatcher said that we set off all of the company cell phones; insinuating that we had done something wrong. We believe that our takeoff was completely safe and legal.

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	882780
Time
Date	201004
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	TIST.Airport
State Reference	VI
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B767-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 23700 Flight Crew Type 8100
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Weight And Balance

B767 captain reports taking off from runway 10 at tist with 5800 ft of runway available. Performance calculations were provided by dispatch; after takeoff the reporter was informed that there may have been an error.