EMB ERJ 170/175 ER/LR
Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine; Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Communication Breakdown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Weight And Balance; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Hazardous Material Violation; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Ground Event / Encounter Fuel Issue
Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Work Refused; General Maintenance Action
Human Factors
I was notified of my reserve assignment at XA:00 by Crew Scheduling. They stated when they called me to pack a bag because I might not be home as the airplane we were to repo back to ZZZ was still broken. They assigned me a XB:00 showtime on the phone. I however noticed later my show time was modified to XC:00. Either way I arrived at the airport and sat down at the gate that was on my schedule. The First Officer texted me and stated the hotel van was just pulling up. At XC:00 when no gate agent was around the gate area at [Gate] I called my Dispatcher at [the] desk. I asked if he could get someone to let us down to the plane. After placing me on hold he stated we would be originating from the maintenance hangar. He asked the maintenance department where we needed to go to be picked up. They stated [Gate1]. He then started to fill me in that we would be hauling two mechanics; their tools and few other miscellaneous items. We met the maintenance personnel at [Gate1] and was transported to the airplane near the maintenance hangar. Upon arriving we noticed a 5 gallon bucket of Skydrol hydraulic fluid in front of the airplane along with what appeared to be a hydraulic pump and some hoses that were located in an open top box. The maintenance personnel stated that Maintenance Control okayed this being transported onboard the airplane. The FO (First Officer) went up to the flight deck and stowed her bags. I called the pilot on duty to get some direction on this 5 gallon container and was also hoping he could put me in touch with the hazardous materials specialist. The pilot on duty tracked him down and he okayed it based on being less than 5 gallons and it was in a sealed container. The box with the pump; hoses and other miscellaneous items was also OK. I question that now based on the [Operations Manual]. The last bullet point is my question. While I was inspecting the cabin's emergency equipment the FO notified me that the maintenance personnel stated that there was a substantial amount of items loaded in the forward cargo bay accumulating to about 300 lbs. I asked if they had a CLR or if the items happened to get weighed as they went on. The answer was they did not and someone was going to come out with a scale to unload and weigh the items. I called the pilot on duty to confirm needing this information on a CLR. FOM 12.6.11 Note D. The maintenance personnel did provide a paper CLR after unloading and reloading the cargo bay. During this time the 5 gallons of Skydrol was brought into the cabin and placed between two first class seats. The box with the pump also was. I called the scheduling and asked to speak to the manager on duty. I was connected. After explaining the situation to him he stated he would call me back. The maintenance personnel placed the Skydrol in a first class seat and placed a seatbelt around the container. Sometime after this they place an orange ratchet strap around this bucket also. After some time Scheduling Duty Officer [SDO] called me back. At this time Maintenance removed the Skydrol and the pump from the aircraft and stated we would be going without it. He stated they would remove it and place it below and secure it. He instructed us not to leave if it was placed below and not secured. At some point after this call with SDO crew scheduling called me questioning where I was at and why we have not departed yet. I explained to them we were on the airplane and attempting to safely depart after everything was in order. I called the Dispatcher and inquired about a new release because our release was timing out. We decided to add fuel to the airplane at that time because the APU has been running for along time now. While waiting for the fuel truck to arrive the maintenance personnel drove back up to the plane and loaded the Skydrol and the pump into the forward cargo bay. I went to look at how these items were secured. They were just sitting in boxes and not secured. I took a few pictures to send to SDO and the maintenance personnel asked me if this was OK. I stated I was told it had to be secured and that I was send this pictures to my manager. The maintenance personnel stated they would remove it from the plane and we could depart. The items were removed. While waiting for the fuel truck we also inquired with scheduling on what hotel we would be staying at in ZZZ1. They stated that we would be flying back because the 14 hours from our reserve availability period only was restricted to passenger flying and since this was Part 91 flying we were good for 16 hours. We were told we would have to call off if we didn't want to work the flight back. The fuel truck arrived and we departed soon after. The remainder of the flight was uneventful. We concluded the flight in ZZZ1 at XD:00. We were sent to the hotel and was scheduled for a min rest overnight. We called when we reached the hotel and had the show time adjusted to allow us 10 hours.
EMB-170 Captain reported a Hazmat configuration violation during preflight of a ferry flight. Completed an uneventful flight after Hazmat cargo was removed.