EMB ERJ 170/175 ER/LR
Communication Breakdown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Weight And Balance
General None Reported / Taken
Human Factors
During the boarding/loading process; the gate agent provided us with the load report; which stated 4 regular and 5 heavy bags in the forward bin; and 8 bags in the aft bin. It is very unusual with such a low count to see any bags in the aft bin. I specifically asked the agent if the 8 bags indicated on the sheet were in [fact in] the aft bin; to rule out an error in the paperwork. She confirmed that the bags were in the aft bin. Upon running the ACARS numbers; the CG was in the AFT caution zone; and we had a hard time getting it out of the zone. We eventually found that the least disruptive way (for the passengers) to make the CG legal was to move people out of the last row of each section. The ACARS performance data came back; we were within limits; and continued on our way. During the flight; as we were discussing what happened; we found it weird that we were having a hard time getting the CG out of the caution zone. I decided to verify during the postflight walkaround that there were in fact 8 bags in the aft bin. Upon landing; I was able to verify that there were 8 golf bags in the aft bin; but I watched significantly more than 9 suitcases come out of the forward bin. The Ramp Agent showed me the scanner when the offloading was complete; and the bag count in the forward bin was 51; not 9. I have no idea how to prevent this in the future; short of standing and watching the loading process. Unless a printout of the checked bag scanner is provided with the load report (similar to the passenger count printout provided by the gate agents); we are at the mercy of the information provided to us by ramp personnel.
When reviewing the Load Report; I noticed an unusual loading - 5 standard/4 heavy bags in the FWD compartment; and 8 standard in the aft. I asked my First Officer if he had verified the information; he replied that he also noticed the odd loading and verified with the gate agent who had provided the Load Report. When doing the Weight and Balance; we ended up being in the AFT caution zone and had to move passengers to comply. During the flight; we continued to discuss the loading. We decided that the First Officer would visually verify the 8 bags in the aft compartment upon landing. After landing; he reported that the aft loading was correct; but that FIFTY ONE bags had been taken out of the forward compartment! The Load Form clearly showed 4 standard and 5 heavy bags. The ramper offloading bags could not tell me how many heavies; so the bag count was off by potentially over 1;500 LBS in the forward compartment; potentially jeopardizing safety and violating a limitation of the aircraft. Short of standing next to the rampers and counting the bags ourselves; there is nothing we could do about this; but some procedure to prevent this from happening again would be nice.
EMB170 flight crew reports difficulty achieving an acceptable CG with the bag count provide by the gate agent. Some passengers are moved forward and the flight departs. After landing the forward compartment is found to contain 51 bags; not the nine bags indicated on the load sheet.