Narrative:

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.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: 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.

Narrative: 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.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.