Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30; Flight Crew Total 25000; Flight Crew Type 5000
Communication Breakdown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Weight And Balance
General Release Refused / Aircraft Not Accepted
Company Policy; Procedure
[We] received final weights showing passenger load 21/73 did not agree with planned load of 24/129. Checked with Lead Flight Attendant and sent message to Load Planning. [We were] delayed 10 minutes to get new weights with proper load. Unsafe due to large change in weight had we used the first weight manifest and adjusted takeoff speeds.
When we got our final weights they were 18;000 LBS less than planned. Investigation showed passenger count was way below planned (21/73). We had the flight attendants do a head count and the count was close to what we had planned and what the gate agent gave us (23/127). Load planning was contacted and we provided the count from the flight attendants. New final weights were issued. My concern is that our new procedures may have errors that if not caught; may result in incorrect takeoff data planning and or incorrect loading resulting unsafe takeoff or flight conditions.
A B757 crew reported that new Company procedures allowed the weight and balance to in error by 18;000 LBS which the crew caught because of a large passenger count discrepancy.