Commercial Fixed Wing
Communication Breakdown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Weight And Balance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Procedure
I had planned this flight 90 minutes out. I had both live animals and dry ice planned. I planned the dry ice forward with some other dangerous goods; and the live animals aft. I planned 40 bags forward with the Dangerous Goods to more than meet the requirement that dangerous goods be secured by 15 bags. I also gave the ramp a max of 140 bags aft to keep the flight from going tail heavy.My screen had slowed down around the departure time of this flight. I noted that the passengers were final; so I took another look at this flight to make sure at least 15 bags were loaded forward with the dangerous goods. I noticed that there were no bags showing loaded forward. I hoped that this was an error; so I investigated further. I noted that Item Number 5; a bag item with 28 bags; was showing held off 'below the line'. I quickly advised my lead and shift manager. I turned off the auto final so that weights would not be sent until we cleared this potential error up. I contacted the Zone Controller for this flight at EWR; and advised her what was happening. While calling; the flight pushed back. Shortly thereafter; the ramp lead finalized the flight with no bags loaded forward. Final weights could not be sent; both because I had turned off the auto final; and holding off the 28 bags caused a bag deviation. The Zone Controller said she would contact the Ramp Supervisor and have him call me about this situation. I told her we would not be sending any final weights until this was cleared up. I also get a message from the Captain requesting final weights. During this same time frame; the ramp lead finalizes the flight two more times; still showing no bags loaded forward. I reply to the Captain by ACARS advising him that I couldn't send weights until we got a correct final from the ramp. The Flight Dispatcher called also asking why final weights weren't sent. I advised him what was going on; and I hoped this was an error that could be resolved rather quickly; if not the flight would have to return to the gate. Then; I get a call from the 'Team Leader' who had worked this flight. He said he had closed the flight out on his scanner; and asked what the problem was. I advised him his closeout(s) showed no bags forward with the Dangerous Goods. He advised me this was a error; there were bags loaded forward. I advised him that he had RMK'd (held off) 28 bags from Pit3. He said; yes; that was the correct number of bags forward; and he said the Dangerous Goods were secured by the bags. I told him that I would remove the hold off; and add the bags back to forward Pit3. I told him he would be able to final again after I did this. I also verified the total number of bags boarded; so I could also clear any deviations after his final.He finalized the flight again at [on a later flight]. I carefully reviewed the closeout and total bag counts. I verified that there were 15 or more bags forward with the Dangerous Goods. I cleared the bag deviation and turned on the auto-final and final weights were sent. Had I not been watching this flight closely; one of two things could have happened. Unsecured Dangerous Goods could have flown; or the flight could have taken off with incorrect weights due to an incorrect bag count. The auto final fail for the bag deviation probably would have protected the weights from being sent. The Load Planner clearing the deviation needs to both verify the bag count with the station and also check that the Dangerous Goods 15 bag requirement has been met.
A Load Planner delayed final weights after discovering a possible error in handling dangerous goods; live animals and bag locations. Information passed from ramp personnel regarding loading appeared inadequate.