Narrative:

Upon arrival at fll after atl to fll flight, passenger thanked the airline for being so accommodating by allowing her child to situation on her lap. After seeing the child I asked how old the child was and she said 4. I had no knowledge this child was on board. Apparently the gate agent thought she was acting in the best interest of the airline, instead we carried 114 passenger on a 113 passenger jet. Better agent training would have prevented this event. Too often a full flight with minimum turnaround time coupled with inexperience results in a possibility of an unsafe situation with no information to the crew. Emphasis needs to be placed on quality training, knowledge of FARS, adequate staffing and communication at all position.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CAPT DISCOVERED AFTER-THE-FACT THAT A CHILD WHO WAS OVER 2 YRS OLD WAS ALLOWED TO BE HELD RATHER THAN OCCUPY A SEAT, DURING A FULLY BOOKED FLT.

Narrative: UPON ARR AT FLL AFTER ATL TO FLL FLT, PAX THANKED THE AIRLINE FOR BEING SO ACCOMMODATING BY ALLOWING HER CHILD TO SIT ON HER LAP. AFTER SEEING THE CHILD I ASKED HOW OLD THE CHILD WAS AND SHE SAID 4. I HAD NO KNOWLEDGE THIS CHILD WAS ON BOARD. APPARENTLY THE GATE AGENT THOUGHT SHE WAS ACTING IN THE BEST INTEREST OF THE AIRLINE, INSTEAD WE CARRIED 114 PAX ON A 113 PAX JET. BETTER AGENT TRAINING WOULD HAVE PREVENTED THIS EVENT. TOO OFTEN A FULL FLT WITH MINIMUM TURNAROUND TIME COUPLED WITH INEXPERIENCE RESULTS IN A POSSIBILITY OF AN UNSAFE SIT WITH NO INFO TO THE CREW. EMPHASIS NEEDS TO BE PLACED ON QUALITY TRAINING, KNOWLEDGE OF FARS, ADEQUATE STAFFING AND COM AT ALL POS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.