B767 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 170; Flight Crew Total 26000; Flight Crew Type 13000
Time Pressure
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Weight And Balance
Human Factors; Procedure
We pushed back on time and after engine start noticed the low pressure light was on and the EICAS message for center left fuel pump. After talking to maintenance we pulled back into [the] gate. The mechanics could not come up with a quick fix so the decision was made to defer it. This involved treating the center tank fuel as structural on the weight and balance. After adding some fuel we were ready to go. The ramp then showed up and removed four or five large pallets from the forward cargo pit. They all looked large enough that I even sent dispatch a message about concern we would end up tail heavy. They closed up and we pushed. We had to wait at the runway for a few minutes until the final weights arrived and we could finish checklists. First officer was flying; and on rotation the nose came up very quickly; had to be close to hitting tail skid. He remarked that he never had to put in so much nose down before. An hour later a new set of final weights comes over the printer. It showed a ZFW 4000 lbs lighter and a trim of 2.8 versa the original 3.3. I inquired with dispatch who looked into it. The answer was they took off one more pallet than reflected in the final numbers. They advised they were 'in a hurry to get the flight out'. Now we were already 2 hours late and not pushing any 117 issues (not that would make it okay) so what was the hurry? This potentially could have been a very big deal. I would certainly be reluctant in the future to take a plane in this situation in the future if I can't trust them to put safety first. As an aside to this; upon arrival the mechanics were really annoyed that this wasn't fixed while in a maintenance hub and was passed on to them.
B767 Captain reported receiving final weights about an hour into the trans-Atlantic flight following a takeoff that almost resulted in a tail strike.