A B737 weight and balance blocked row 39 but during flight the aircraft was pitch sensitive and the ...

Attributes
ACN	1290827
Time
Date	201508
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Final Approach
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 207.07 Flight Crew Total 14000 Flight Crew Type 2233.55
Events
Anomaly	Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural Weight And Balance

Narrative:

After pushback and prior to taxi; we received an ACARS message that indicated we were out of balance and needed to block row 39. Prior to taxi these passengers were moved. During rotation; I noticed that the airplane was rather pitch sensitive. After the airplane was cleaned up; the airplane continued to be pitch sensitive. I noticed these same characteristics during the approach and landing. Additionally; the pitch trim system activated twice on approach. These two instances occurred below 1500 feet. I have never seen the pitch trim system activate during a low power phase of flight. I suspect that the airplane was still out of balance.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737 Weight and Balance blocked Row 39 but during flight the aircraft was pitch sensitive and the Pitch Trim system activated trim during approach at low power. Balance may have been near the limit the entire flight.

Narrative: After pushback and prior to taxi; we received an ACARS message that indicated we were out of balance and needed to block row 39. Prior to taxi these passengers were moved. During rotation; I noticed that the airplane was rather pitch sensitive. After the airplane was cleaned up; the airplane continued to be pitch sensitive. I noticed these same characteristics during the approach and landing. Additionally; the Pitch Trim system activated twice on approach. These two instances occurred below 1500 feet. I have never seen the Pitch Trim system activate during a low power phase of flight. I suspect that the airplane was still out of balance.

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.

A B737 weight and balance blocked row 39 but during flight the aircraft was pitch sensitive and the pitch trim system activated trim during approach at low power. Balance may have been near the limit the entire flight.