Narrative:

I performed the walk around like every other flight. The ramp crew was loading bags and I looked in the cargo compartment as best I could and saw nothing out of the ordinary except a ramper loading bags like normal. I returned to the cockpit; completed other preflight duties; ran checklists; completed weight and balance paperwork; and left on time. Nothing seemed abnormal. The flight was uneventful until a ramper came up to the cockpit after the flight and asked if we had a mechanic onboard. We of course replied no since all of the passengers had deplaned and questioned why he had asked. Evidently there were mechanic tools and an airline tire assembly in the cargo compartment that nobody had informed us about before the previous departure. After 30 minutes worth of phone calls to dispatch and maintenance control among others the captain finally ascertained that the tools and tire came the day before and never got off the plane. There was a sheet of paper with a name and phone number attached to each item. Maintenance finally informed us the estimated weight of all items in the back were 120 pounds. We ran the weight and balance and discovered we were still under all aircraft weights and with the cg limits. This was a severe breakdown in communication with everyone from the rampers to maintenance control. In the future we as pilots might have to ask every time we receive the load report if there are any other items in the cargo compartment.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An ERJ First Officer reported that he did not see a tire and tools during his first walk around inspection and was told after arrival about the cargo compartment items. The items were left on the aircraft from the night before but presented no weight and balance issue.

Narrative: I performed the walk around like every other flight. The ramp crew was loading bags and I looked in the cargo compartment as best I could and saw nothing out of the ordinary except a Ramper loading bags like normal. I returned to the cockpit; completed other preflight duties; ran checklists; completed weight and balance paperwork; and left on time. Nothing seemed abnormal. The flight was uneventful until a Ramper came up to the cockpit after the flight and asked if we had a mechanic onboard. We of course replied no since all of the passengers had deplaned and questioned why he had asked. Evidently there were mechanic tools and an airline tire assembly in the cargo compartment that nobody had informed us about before the previous departure. After 30 minutes worth of phone calls to Dispatch and Maintenance Control among others the Captain finally ascertained that the tools and tire came the day before and never got off the plane. There was a sheet of paper with a name and phone number attached to each item. Maintenance finally informed us the estimated weight of all items in the back were 120 pounds. We ran the weight and balance and discovered we were still under all aircraft weights and with the CG limits. This was a severe breakdown in communication with everyone from the Rampers to Maintenance Control. In the future we as pilots might have to ask every time we receive the load report if there are any other items in the cargo compartment.

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.