Air carrier flight crew reported a communication breakdown between the flight crew and ground personnel regarding a missing cancellation message that the DG was not loaded on aircraft after receiving a NOTOC during preflight. After multiple attempts to contact ground personnel with no response the flight departed.
Synopsis
Air carrier flight crew reported a communication breakdown between the flight crew and ground personnel regarding a missing cancellation message that the DG was not loaded on aircraft after receiving a NOTOC during preflight. After multiple attempts to contact ground personnel with no response the flight departed.
Narrative
Prior to push from the gate in ZZZ we received a NOTOC indicating dry ice. I Captain (CA) sent the DG message through ACARS. After pushback; we reviewed the closeout prior to taxi; as it was late in the evening; dark and the ramp was congested/chaotic which would require a good deal of heads up" time by both of us. We noted that the closeout did not list RA (Restricted Articles) boarded so I requested that the First Officer (FO) make a call to Ops to try and verify if the dry ice had been boarded. My recollection is that during the taxi he made a total of 3 calls to ops to reconcile this; with no information returned by them. FOM page XXX clearly states that discrepancies between the closeout and NOTOC be completed. As we rounded the corner of Mike taxiway onto Charlie taxiway and we were approaching number one to depart; I made the judgement that the RA had likely not been put on the plane; as I had seen a few times as an FO prior to upgrade. The FOM also states that if a NOTOC has been issued and the RA not boarded that the Crew Chief is to cancel the NOTOC. Approximately 9 minutes after departure we received an updated closeout that stated crew chief added RA to final list. We compared the zero fuel weight to the original closeout and it was the same number so we determined that there was no issue with the performance for out departure runway (we were approximately 3000 lbs lower than planned). We discussed the closeout received and checked portion of the takeoff checklist and looked at the training slides for direction on discrepancies with RA/NOTOC and found that it was heavily focused on the performance side of the report. After a night of sleep; and on my commute home I took a deeper dive into the FOM with regards to NOTOC and RA reporting on the closeout and decided to file this report based on my decision/judgement to depart with a discrepancy not reconciled but also the difficulty to receive updated information from ZZZ ops/Crew Chief. This could be a nice/good add to the training slides as another reminder of the reconciliation process of discrepancies that can be trapped prior to departure.The biggest factor I can identify is the timeliness of information flow as well as the compressed time (short and complicated taxi) to get resolution. I reviewed the closeout training slides for a qualification course. They go in depth on the performance aspects but I couldn't find a reference readily to resolution of RA discrepancies. That information if available in the FOM though. In this event; had the RA not been boarded and the requirement for a cancellation of the NOTOC then required; I am not sure how I would know. Would that be by ACARS message? I have no experience with that happening."
Second reporter narrative
On our final flight from ZZZ to ZZZ1 we had a NOTOC for dry ice in the back. As we were pushing back in ZZZ; we received the load close out; but I didn't review it until we completed the push. While doing my briefing I noticed the RA (Restricted Articles) was not listed. I then called operations to see if they had information about the dry ice being loaded. They said they had no information and would call the crew chief. We decided to start taxiing and it was shorter than normal in ZZZ; but I still tried Operations back; and got nothing back. After about 10 minutes of waiting for a response and being number 1 for takeoff; we elected to takeoff. We just figured maybe they didn't load it; but worst case scenario we it's on there and it wasn't properly put in the system. About ten minutes after departure we got a new load close out which had exactly the same Zero Fuel Weight (ZFW). Crew chief and ground ops should have done better to make sure dry ice was accounted for in the load closeout. A NOTOC should only be issued after the dangerous good are placed on the plane then we will know it is physically on the plane not going to be placed on the plane.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.