Narrative:

When we arrived in chs on the previous flight; the ATIS was broadcasting that runway 15/33 was closed; so we landed on runway 3. During the boarding for [our next flight]; we received our paperwork and noticed that we were going to have a full flight. The first officer and I then began discussing options since the ATIS was still broadcasting that runway 15/33 was closed. A review of our takeoff performance revealed that a takeoff from runway 3 would have resulted in us having to take 8 passengers off of the aircraft. We contacted the tower and asked if 15/33 was still closed; and they stated that it was up to the USAF to open the runway. They gave us a phone number for air force operations; which my first officer called. He was informed that there might be a slight delay; but it looked like it would be ok for us to use runway 33. We had [a full load of] passengers; and approaching departure time; we had a jump seater come down to the aircraft. We ran numbers and found that we would be about 45 pounds over zero-fuel weight. I quickly ran out and stopped the rampers from loading his bags. The jump seater had a flight case and small travel bag that we were able to accommodate in the cabin. This brought us below zero-fuel weight. I believe that at this point we were past departure time. Feeling rushed; I quickly glanced over all the paperwork before handing it out the door; we closed up and pushed back. We taxied out to runway 33; and took off without incident. While reviewing our fuel load; routing; and weight and balance paperwork; I discovered that we were over ramp weight on the ground. My first officer had figured our max takeoff weight based on landing structural and zero fuel weights and wrote the appropriate weight in the max takeoff weight line on the weight and balance sheet. While takeoff was below our figured zero fuel weight; I failed to notice that our weight was above the aircraft's max takeoff weight. I believe our actual takeoff weight was [about 50 pounds over max]. Since we're so very rarely loaded to max ramp weight; I didn't even notice that we were slightly over it when I glanced over the weight and balance form on the ground. Our flight was uneventful as we adjusted our cruising altitude to increase our fuel burn to be under our max landing weight at the time of arrival. Our workload increased quickly when we realized we had such a high fuel load; and that we had a full flight while we were boarding; and then had to make arrangements to try and use the longer runway. It was further complicated when our jump seater came down so close to departure time; adding pressure to get the flight out as quickly as we could.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An air carrier Captain reported departing slightly over ATOG when he hurried his preflight routine to try to get out on time.

Narrative: When we arrived in CHS on the previous flight; the ATIS was broadcasting that Runway 15/33 was closed; so we landed on Runway 3. During the boarding for [our next flight]; we received our paperwork and noticed that we were going to have a full flight. The First Officer and I then began discussing options since the ATIS was still broadcasting that Runway 15/33 was closed. A review of our takeoff performance revealed that a takeoff from Runway 3 would have resulted in us having to take 8 passengers off of the aircraft. We contacted the tower and asked if 15/33 was still closed; and they stated that it was up to the USAF to open the runway. They gave us a phone number for Air Force operations; which my First Officer called. He was informed that there might be a slight delay; but it looked like it would be OK for us to use Runway 33. We had [a full load of] passengers; and approaching departure time; we had a jump seater come down to the aircraft. We ran numbers and found that we would be about 45 LBS over zero-fuel weight. I quickly ran out and stopped the rampers from loading his bags. The jump seater had a flight case and small travel bag that we were able to accommodate in the cabin. This brought us below zero-fuel weight. I believe that at this point we were past departure time. Feeling rushed; I quickly glanced over all the paperwork before handing it out the door; we closed up and pushed back. We taxied out to Runway 33; and took off without incident. While reviewing our fuel load; routing; and weight and balance paperwork; I discovered that we were over ramp weight on the ground. My First Officer had figured our max takeoff weight based on landing structural and zero fuel weights and wrote the appropriate weight in the max takeoff weight line on the weight and balance sheet. While takeoff was below our figured zero fuel weight; I failed to notice that our weight was above the aircraft's max takeoff weight. I believe our actual takeoff weight was [about 50 LBS over max]. Since we're so very rarely loaded to max ramp weight; I didn't even notice that we were slightly over it when I glanced over the weight and balance form on the ground. Our flight was uneventful as we adjusted our cruising altitude to increase our fuel burn to be under our max landing weight at the time of arrival. Our workload increased quickly when we realized we had such a high fuel load; and that we had a full flight while we were boarding; and then had to make arrangements to try and use the longer runway. It was further complicated when our jump seater came down so close to departure time; adding pressure to get the flight out as quickly as we could.

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.