B737 CAPT UNCOVERS ATTEMPTS BY LOAD PLANNERS TO FALSIFY WT DATA BY USING CHILD WTS FOR AN ARBITRARY NUMBER OF PAX; A NUMBER WHICH WAS 3-6 TIMES THE ACTUAL NUMBER OF CHILDREN ON BOARD.

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I WAS CAPT. I WENT DOWN TO OPS AND RECEIVED MY PAPERWORK. I NOTICED THAT THE ACTUAL LNDG GROSS WT AT DEST WAS GOING TO BE CLOSE TO MAX; SCHEDULED TO BE 146.7 VERSUS A MAX LNDG WT OF 147.3. AT NO TIME DURING THE LOADING PROCESS WAS THE REQUEST GIVEN BY THE GATE AGENTS TO GET A HALF WT COUNT. IT WAS ONLY AFTER THE ACFT CABIN DOOR WAS CLOSED AND AFTER WE RECEIVED THE MANIFEST THAT MY FO AND I NOTICED THAT THE WTS WERE PREDICATED ON 12 HALF WTS (CHILDREN). I ASKED MY FLT ATTENDANTS TO GET A HALF WT COUNT. THEY REPLIED THAT WE HAD ONLY 4 HALF WTS ON BOARD. WE THEN CALLED OPS TO INFORM THEM OF THIS. THEY SENT US NEW PAPERWORK (#2) WHICH SHOWED A ZERO FUEL WT LESS THAN WHAT WAS ON THE FIRST ONE. I TOLD GND CTL THAT WE NEEDED TO PULL OVER AND PARK THE ACFT OFF OF THE MAIN TXWY IN ORDER TO RESOLVE THIS PROB. AFTER SECURING THE ACFT ON A REMOTE TXWY; I CALLED OPS AND WANTED TO KNOW JUST WHAT WAS GOING ON. SHE THEN EXPLAINED THAT THE HALF WTS WERE 10 ASIAN WOMEN WHO WERE BEING COUNTED AS HALF WTS. I QUESTIONED HER ON THIS AND SHE SAID THAT ASIAN WOMEN WERE ALLOWED TO BE COUNTED AS HALF WTS AS THEY ARE SO SMALL FRAMED. I THOUGHT THIS UNUSUAL AND QUESTIONED HER ON THIS. SHE ASSURED ME THAT THIS WAS THE ACCEPTED PRACTICE. AT THIS POINT; I ASKED THE FLT ATTENDANTS TO GIVE ME A COUNT OF THE ASIAN WOMEN ON BOARD; AND THEY SAID THERE WERE ONLY 2. THEY SAID THERE WERE A FEW INDIAN WOMEN; BUT THAT WAS IT. OPS THEN VERBALLY GAVE US A NEW ZERO FUEL WT OF 139256 LBS AND SHE INFORMED US THAT WE WERE NOW APPROX 150 LBS OVER MAX TKOF WT. SHE ASKED IF I WANTED TO COME BACK TO THE GATE TO OFFLOAD SOME BAGS AND I SAID 'NO.' I MADE THIS DECISION BASED ON THE FACT THAT WE HAD BEEN SITTING ON THE TXWY FOR AN ADDITIONAL 10 MINS GETTING THIS ISSUE RECTIFIED. IN MY OPINION; WE HAD BURNED THAT 150 LBS OF FUEL JUST SITTING THERE. ALSO; THE ACFT WAS LNDG LIMITED; AND I KNEW; IF NECESSARY; WE COULD BURN OFF THE EXTRA WT IN FLT; IN ORDER TO LAND UNDER MAX LNDG WT. ON THE TKOF ROLL I NOTICED THAT I NEEDED TO BACK TRIM THE ACFT A LITTLE JUST TO ASSIST ME IN ROTATING. I AM CONCERNED AS THIS IS THE SECOND WK IN A ROW THAT I HAVE FLOWN OUT OF THIS STATION AND HAD TO PULL OVER ON A REMOTE TXWY TO SOLVE A WT AND BAL ISSUE. I CANNOT REMEMBER THE SPECIFICS OF THE PREVIOUS INSTANCE; BUT IT WAS DUE TO US BEING CLOSE TO MAX TKOF WT AND ONLY AFTER LEAVING THE GATE DID OPS INFORM US THAT THERE WAS A POSSIBILITY THAT SOME BAGS WERE PUT ON OUR FLT WHICH WAS INTENDED FOR A DIFFERENT FLT. I AM CONCERNED THAT THEY MAY BE CUTTING CORNERS IN MAKING DECISIONS CONCERNING MAX WT TKOFS. IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THEY ARE TRYING TO MAKE SURE ALL BAGS AND PAX ARE ON BOARD AT THE EXPENSE OF RUNNING A SAFE OP.