A Dispatcher and First Officer reported that after previous flights were canceled the passenger load on this flight increased but the weight and balance was not revised until the Captain called for a reroute and notified Dispatch about takeoff and landing over weight issues.
Synopsis
A Dispatcher and First Officer reported that after previous flights were canceled the passenger load on this flight increased but the weight and balance was not revised until the Captain called for a reroute and notified Dispatch about takeoff and landing over weight issues.
Narrative
The pilot called in for a reroute and at the same time say he was at the end of the runway burning fuel and needed to run numbers for his weight. The flight originally had 23 passengers and now had 45 but no one had called for new weights or to tell us until he was at the end of the runway. I was trying to get his weights right and he kept saying he was taking off with those numbers and would call me after takeoff. I was trying to tell him the system didn't run the numbers that fast and I was trying different ways to raise the burn so he would not be over weight for take off. He had a wheels-up for the impacted destination but we could have pushed it back to get the numbers correct. I would have never known they were over weight or had put that many more people on had he not called now with the reroute. I had to give him numbers with running the wing and cowls on and new flight level to get it correct. Had I been called at the gate I could have run the new weights with plenty of time as to not have had this happen. We should also be notified when more people are being added due to cancelled flights.
Second reporter narrative
We were time crunched trying to go to our destination. We had a wheels-up time and the gate did not board us at the pre-discussed time to ensure we were going to meet our time. We were also at the end of a very long and tiring trip and 12:30 duty day. Once we loaded the aircraft; I completed my weight and balance and determined the aircraft was close to max landing weight limit; but not over. Dispatch did not expect to have a full load even though all other flights to our destination that day were canceled due to weather in our destination. Dispatch should have realized this and planned accordingly for real time passenger rebooking; not what a computer tells them what the load 'might be'. Since the Dispatcher didn't plan for more people he planned for us to tanker fuel. This made my weight and balance difficult but manageable. We departed the gate within limits. During taxi out; ATC gave us a reroute. This new route added distance; (I thought; I can't remember now). So the new burn wasn't a factor; so I thought. Also; we were going to be dealing with weather in our destination; we would burn more fuel. Even though our enroute burn might have changed we would and did not land over weight. No matter what artificial number dispatch and their computer have generated; I always check to ensure we have burned enough fuel so that my aircraft is less than 47;000 LBS for landing; which I did for this flight. If the Captain and the Dispatcher want to discuss reroutes; the brake needs to be set and a new ATC time need to be received. Slow Down. Not having a 12:30 duty day would have helped to not be tired during the event.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.