A319 flight crew reported missing paperwork for DG that had been loaded on the aircraft. The flight departed without the DG summary onboard.
Synopsis
A319 flight crew reported missing paperwork for DG that had been loaded on the aircraft. The flight departed without the DG summary onboard.
Narrative
Five minutes past scheduled push the ground crew informed me they had loaded last-minute hazardous material" and were trying to send the report to the flight deck. They stated they attempted to send it twice before. I assumed they were talking about the Dangerous Goods (DG) report. Load Planning said it was a small amount and we did not need the DG summary report. At this time; I didn't know what the hazardous material was. I reached out to the Chief Pilot; [who] answered. He put me on hold to make some inquiries regarding our situation. The ground crew then informed me the paperwork was physically on the item in the cargo compartment. I requested it be given to me. The paperwork presented was not a DG summary. The local Operations Manager said they did not have a report to give me. The items in question turned out to be biological substances (human eggs from a fertility clinic). Through multiple conversations with Chief Pilot it was not clear to me what paperwork I needed. The DG department never answered his six calls or the call my First Officer placed for me. Chief Pilot stated "I think you are good to go" but it was not conveyed with confidence. I did not feel supported in my decision process by the Chief Pilot. Ultimately; Chief Pilot told me the Director of Line Operations said I could go. In reviewing the FOM after; the note would have given me clarity. I had made multiple announcements to keep the passengers informed. 15 passengers got off the plane due to our delays. Flow into Denver; also complicated the process. ZZZ ground crews clearly need training on what DG versus hazardous materials and review of procedures for Company aircraft. As a new Captain; I had a higher expectation of the support I would receive from contacting the Chief Pilot."
Second reporter narrative
Roughly 5 minutes after the scheduled push time the ramp crew informed the Captain and myself that they had just finished up loading up some last minute hazardous material and that the report should be coming in via ACARS soon. After some time they stated they had tried to send the hazardous material report twice over ACARS. We both assumed the report they were talking about was the Dangerous Goods (DG) report. After checking with ZZZ Operations on the status of the report we were informed that Load Planning was not able to generate a report because the amount of DG was too small. At this time we still were not aware of what the hazardous materials were because there was no DG listed on the planned DG message received on ACARS initialization. At this point the Captain made contact with the Chief Pilot who started making inquiries about how to get ahold of the paperwork required to push back and proceed with the flight. The ground crew then brought up paperwork that was attached to the cargo in question; that paperwork was still not the DG summary we felt we needed prior to push. The ZZZ Operations Manager informed us that she had no other paperwork for us; stating we have never had a problem with this before and informing us it was just human eggs from a fertility clinic. Several calls were made to the DG department listed in the FOM and none were answered. The answer of I think you're good to go" the Chief Pilot ultimately gave us did not give us confidence in the legality of releasing the parking brake without the DG summary onboard. The Chief Pilot then called Director of Line Operations who gave us the ok to go. Even with the Captain doing an excellent job of keeping our passengers informed as to the status of the flight our delays and the delays caused by flow control into ZZZ caused 15 passengers to get off of the aircraft."
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.