Air carrier flight crew reported they were told that DG cargo was removed from the aircraft prior to gate departure. At destination arrival the flight crew discovered the DG was still in cargo.
Synopsis
Air carrier flight crew reported they were told that DG cargo was removed from the aircraft prior to gate departure. At destination arrival the flight crew discovered the DG was still in cargo.
Narrative
Initially received a NOTOC describing AOG-Dangerous Good; 0.5 Liter; A1-Aft. The bill/AWB; towards the bottom of the NOTOC described; Dangerous Goods (DG) in Machinery. No details were described as to what the DG is. After calling Operations; Maintenance; Dangerous Goods; Dispatch; and Loading; who none could describe what the DG actually was; I refused the DG Article (as I earlier acknowledged the NOTOC in ACARS) and asked the crew chief to remove it from the aircraft. I then received a NOTOC cancellation message. I spoke to the crew chief once again before pushing who acknowledged the DG was off the aircraft. I then received a closeout that did not list any restricted articles on board. Before disconnecting the tug; after the push was complete; the ramper told us the DG was never removed. We immediately contacted operations; who conducted some research and stated; yes; both manager and Crew Chief ensure the DG was removed from the aircraft." With the confirmation of the cancelled NOTOC message; the closeout indicating No Restricted Articles on board; and station personnel "ensuring" the DG was removed from the aircraft; we decided to carry on to our destination. After we arrived to ZZZ1; during the post flight walk around; we noticed the DG packages were still onboard the aircraft with the letters "AOG." It was never removed.Cause: Have a proper description of the actual dangerous good in the NOTOC. The purpose of the NOTOC is to inform the crew of the actual dangerous good; not that there is/are dangerous/hazardous goods in the machinery we are carrying. This alone would have alleviated all confusion and all operations would have been streamline."
Second reporter narrative
Received Notoc for goods loaded in the aft cargo. The description for the goods was AOG and the quantity was .5 Liter. Not knowing what the dangerous goods actually were due to the vague description we inquired with several sources including dispatch; operations; loads; dangerous goods; as well as ZZZ maintenance. All were unable to tell us what was loaded that was a dangerous good. With the lack of information we made the decision to have the dangerous goods removed from the aircraft; as it was already causing a lengthy delay. We were then told by operations as well as the ground crew chief that the package in question had been removed. we received the closeout which listed no restricted articles on the aircraft. After pushback the pushback crew told us that they believed that the package had never been removed; we then questioned operations again on the radio. They assured us that the package was removed; and this was confirmed by the crew chief as well as the manager. With that information we conducted the flight to ZZZ1. Upon arrival in ZZZ1 we discovered that the package had in fact not been removed from the aircraft like we had been told.Cause: Dangerous goods loaded on the aircraft with unclear description of goods on NOTOC.Pushing by station personnel to get the flight out by stating the goods had been removed when in fact they were not. Recommend a more clear description of the goods on the Notoc form as this form is a way for the crew to know what is on their aircraft and how it could potentially cause a hazard in certain situations.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.