B737 Next Generation Undifferentiated
Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200; Flight Crew Total 25000; Flight Crew Type 14000
Communication Breakdown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Weight And Balance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Hazardous Material Violation
General Work Refused
Human Factors; Procedure
After F/O (First Officer) finished the walk around he said he had taken a picture of something that was being loaded onto the aircraft and asked if I had ever seen this before. It looked like a small trash can on a small pallet; wrapped in plastic. He said it was labeled 'cryogenic medical supplies'. Preliminary DG (Dangerous Goods) report had said no DG on this flight. I went down to the ramp to see what this was. There were 3 of these containers each was marked 'cryogenic'. Dispatcher was called. He talked to Load Planner; neither had any record of DG to be loaded. Called [Station] Operations; they called back and said there was no paperwork on these containers; therefore; they were being removed from the aircraft. I went downstairs to the ramp; talked to the Ramp Supervisor and saw that they had been removed. F/O should be commended for his diligence. If he hadn't taken that picture I would have never known.
During the exterior aircraft inspection I noticed some strange cargo that appeared to be 3 barrels of medical equipment with dry ice. I took a photo of it and showed it to the Captain. At that moment we also got an ACARS message that said No Dangerous Goods. The CA (Captain) called and [Station] Operations. They said no Hazmat planned. The CA went out on the ramp and saw that the possible Hazmat cargo was loaded. The CA then called Operations again about the cargo; after a few minutes they said the cargo in question was removed from the aircraft. The rest of the flight was normal.
B737 flight crew reported undocumented Hazmat cargo loaded on aircraft with no flight crew notification.