B767 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30; Flight Crew Total 10500; Flight Crew Type 2200
Situational Awareness; Communication Breakdown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Weight And Balance
General None Reported / Taken
Environment - Non Weather Related; Human Factors; Procedure
The flight was a [ferry flight] reposition originally scheduled to fly to ZZZ1; but the destination was changed to ZZZ2 by the [Operations] for unknown reasons. The [flight plan] showed the flight released under part 91. The aircraft was diverted to ZZZ from the previous days ZZZ1 flight due to the crew Oxygen system leaking to zero psi. The First Officer and I completed our preflight duties which included the additional Supplementary Procedure for ferry flights with the cabin unoccupied. We verified with our point of contact in ZZZ; that no cargo was onboard and he also reconfirmed all galley carts were on board and empty except for our crew provisions. Once again we were told the cargo compartments were empty. Per the supplementary procedure we communicated this information to Dispatch. We received our final weights and requested takeoff performance for runway XXR. I was the pilot flying; and upon Vr I initiated rotation and found the aircraft to be very nose heavy; requiring a noticeable second effort to rotate the nose up for lift off and climb out. I remarked to the First Officer that the trim setting was way off. The freight in the forward compartment would explain the nose heavy trim setting. We operated the flight and landed in ZZZ2 on runway XXR and taxied to gate XX and completed our checklists. Upon exiting on to the jet bridge we observed the ramp personnel unloading several containers and pallets of cargo from the forward cargo compartment. The next morning I called Dispatch to inquire if there was any cargo listed on our weight manifest. Dispatch said that our flight had no cargo listed on the manifest. However; upon subsequent investigation; [maintenance] showed that in fact there was 17;433 lbs. of freight loaded in the forward cargo compartment. This weight was not accounted for in our final weight manifest; nor in our takeoff and landing performance calculations. An investigation is being made as to why the flight crew; load planning and dispatch were all told that there was no cargo on board; when in fact there was. Hopefully necessary precautions can be made to prevent its occurrence in the future.
Captain called after landing to report that at rotation the trim seemed off. Upon arriving in ZZZ2 he noticed pallets and containers of cargo being removed from the aircraft. They thought they were empty and all the numbers and paperwork reflected the same. He called the dispatcher on duty to inquire what happened. The dispatcher then looked into the issues and found out that roughly 17;000 lbs of cargo was unaccounted for. As it turns out the aircraft was in ZZZ after diverting there the day before but only bags were removed and put on the rescue flight for the passengers. All cargo was left on the aircraft. However; ZZZ did not close out [the] flight to show the cargo onboard; instead it was closed out empty. LP (Load Planner) then only provided weights for an empty aircraft. Subsequently being released part 91 was incorrect. I was told by my relief that it was a reposition ferry and assumed they were correct. Upon further inspection the flight was actually built as a cargo extra section; as such it should have been released under part 121.
B767 flight crew and Dispatcher reported during takeoff the trim setting felt incorrect and later discovered undocumented cargo was on board.