A320 FLT CREW DEPART MIA PRIOR TO RECEIVING THE CORRECT WT AND BAL FIGURES FOR THE ACTUAL LOAD.

Date: 2003-05 · Aircraft: A320 · Phase: ground

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|other-wt-balance

Synopsis

A320 FLT CREW DEPART MIA PRIOR TO RECEIVING THE CORRECT WT AND BAL FIGURES FOR THE ACTUAL LOAD.

Narrative

MIAMI STATION PERSONNEL LOADED ACFT AND LOAD MASTER GENERATED COMPUTER WT AND BAL SCHEDULE WHICH HE PRESENTED ABOUT 10 MINS BEFORE DEP TIME. WE ANTICIPATED A FULL LOAD OF PAX (150) AND THEIR BAGGAGE AND 120 LBS OF CARGO. MOST OF THE BAGS WERE LOADED IN AFT CARGO; RESULTING IN A CTR OF GRAVITY AT THE AFT LIMIT WITH 150 PAX AND NO PROVISION FOR LESS THAN 150 PAX AND REMAINING WITHIN AFT CTR OF GRAVITY LIMIT. AT 1 MIN BEFORE DEP; FLT ATTENDANT #2 BROUGHT PAX COUNT TO FLT DECK SHOWING 197 PAX PLUS 1 INFANT. WE PUSHED BACK AND CALLED IN THE CHANGE IN THE PAX COUNT; BUT NO ONE ANSWERED THE RADIO. I TOLD THE TUG DRIVER ON THE HEADSET WHAT OUR COUNT WAS AND HE SAID HE WOULD TELL THE LOAD MASTER AND OR OPS. MIA STATION HAS A HISTORY OF COMS PROBS; AND IS POOR STAFFED. WE DIDN'T REALIZE THAT OUR 147 PAX COUNT DID NOT HAVE A WT AND BAL SOLUTION ON OUR COMPUTERIZED DOCUMENT AS IT NORMALLY WOULD HAVE; AND WE TOOK OFF. AFTER INITIAL CLB; I REALIZED THE PROB AND PERFORMED A MANUAL WT AND BAL CALCULATION SHOWING US WITHIN THE AFT LIMIT AND UPON ARR AT DEST; FAXED THE SAME TO MIA STATION. I THEN MADE REPEATED ATTEMPTS TO CALL ON THE PHONE AND FINALLY TALKED WITH A STATION EMPLOYEE AT ABOUT XA09 EDT; ALMOST 12 HRS LATER; TO BE SURE THEY GOT THE WT AND BAL PAPERWORK. THE EMPLOYEE THEN RECORDED THE RADIO REVISION WHICH SHOULD HAVE BEEN RECORDED BEFORE TKOF.

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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.