OVERWT TKOF. WT AND BAL.

Narrative

THE COMPANY OPERATES 1 NON-STANDARD FLEET WDB. ONE OF THE MAIN DIFFERENCES IS THE MAX STRUCTURAL TKOF GROSS WT. THAT WT IS 430000 POUNDS. THE BASIC OPERATING WT IS THE SAME AS THE REST OF THE FLEET. TO ALERT THE CREW MEMBER TO THE DIFFERENCE IN THE MAX TKOF WTS; THE COMPANY USES A WHITE COLORED WDB MAX ALLOWABLE TKOF GROSS WT FORM FOR THE STANDARD FLEET ACFT AND A YELLOW COLORED FORM FOR THE NON STANDARD AIRPLANE. WHEN I ARRIVED AT THE GATE TO START THE PREFLT; I DISCOVERED THAT THE ACFT HAD BEEN SWITCHED TO THE NON-STANDARD FLEET AIRPLANE. I THREW THE WHITE WDB MAX ALLOWABLE TKOF GROSS WT FORM AWAY AND PULLED A YELLOW FORM FROM THE ACFT SUPPLY ON BOARD. AT THIS POINT; I WAS COGNIZANT OF THE DIFFERENT WTS. THE CAPT QUICKLY SCRUTINIZED THE PAPERWORK AND DECIDED WE NEEDED MORE FUEL. HE LEFT THE COCKPIT TO SPEAK TO DISPATCH ABOUT A NEW FLT PLAN AND TO ORDER MORE FUEL. TO COMPLETE THE WDB MAX ALLOWABLE TKOF GROSS WT FORM AND THE WT AND BAL FORM; THERE ARE 2 NUMBERS THAT ARE REQUIRED OFF THE FLT PLAN. THEY ARE: THE PLANNED FUEL BURN AND THE MAX ETP1 PAYLOAD. I DIDN'T HAVE A FLT PLAN YET SO I DIDN'T ATTEMPT TO FILL OUT EITHER OF THESE FORMS OR EVEN START THE PROCESS. HOWEVER; DUE TO THE TAILWIND CONDITION THAT EXISTED FOR TKOF; I HAD BEEN BUSY CHKING THE PERFORMANCE CHARTS FOR DIFFERENT RWYS AND DIFFERENT FLAP SETTINGS. I NOTED THIS ON A SEPARATE PIECE OF PAPER. FINALLY; THE FLT PLANS ARRIVED AND I STARTED FILLING OUT THE FORMS WITH THE NEW ATIS INFO. THE FO CALLED GND AND OBTAINED THE WIND FOR THE RWY WE WERE GOING TO USE AND I USED THIS WIND INFO FOR PERFORMANCE CALCULATIONS. THIS WOULD HAVE BEEN THE MOST RESTRICTIVE WT FOR THE STANDARD FLEET ACFT. HOWEVER; THE MOST RESTRICTIVE WT FOR THE AIRPLANE WE WERE FLYING WAS THE MAX STRUCTURAL TKOF WT. IN THE HEAT OF THE BATTLE WE ALL FORGOT WHAT AIRPLANE WE WERE IN AS FAR AS MAX GROSS TKOF WT IS CONCERNED. IN OUR MINDS WE HAD CONVINCED OURSELVES THAT THE MOST RESTRICTIVE WT WAS THE RWY PERFORMANCE WT. CONSEQUENTLY; WHEN I FILLED OUT THE WDB MAX ALLOWABLE TKOF GROSS WT FORM AND THE WT AND BAL FORM THAT NUMBER WAS THE ONE THAT WAS USED. WHEN I WAS FILLING OUT THIS FORM; I DIDN'T SEE A YELLOW FORM. I JUST SAW A FORM THAT NEEDED TO BE COMPLETED BEFORE I FINISHED THE WT AND BAL FORM. AT THE TOP OF CLB; WHEN I HAD A FEW EXTRA MOMENTS; I BEGAN TAKING THE COMPETED PAPERWORK OUT OF THE ENGINEER'S DESK AND TRANSFERRING IT TO THE COMPANY ENVELOPE. THEN I SAW A YELLOW FORM! SUPPLEMENTAL INFO FROM ACN 222709: AIRPLANE DELIVERED TO GATE WITH INOP STANDBY HORIZON. MECH PRETENDED TO SWAP PART; BUT ACTUALLY REINSTALLED SAME UNIT! DEP DELAY DUE LAST MIN TRACKING DOWN PART AND REINSTALLING. NOTE: CAPT WAS DENIED ACCESS TO HIS DUTY STATION DURING THIS MAINT WORK. COMPANY'S FLT PLAN WAS UNREALISTIC IN ALT (37000 FT HARDLY EVER ATTAINABLE ON THIS FLT) AND FUEL REMAINING AT DEST (17000 POUNDS). THIS ORIGINAL PROJECTION HAS US GOING TO AN ISLAND OVER 2000 NM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PACIFIC OCEAN WITH LITTLE RESERVE; NO DIVERSION CAPABILITY; INACCURATE NAV EQUIP (OMEGA) AT AN ALT 4000 FT ABOVE WHAT WE KNOW TO BE NORMALLY ATTAINABLE WITH OUR OP.