B777 flight crew concerned with possible hazmat cargo.

Attributes
ACN	716413
Time
Date	200611
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : egkk.airport
State Reference	FO
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Aircraft 1
Controlling Facilities	tower : jfk.tower
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	B777 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	ground : pushback
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
ASRS Report	716413
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Events
Anomaly	other anomaly
Independent Detector	other flight crewa other flight crewb
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Consequence	other
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Company Flight Crew Human Performance
Primary Problem	Ambiguous

Narrative:

During pushback at lgw; the relief pilot told me he had noticed during his exterior preflight inspection that a shrink wrapped pallet of small cardboard barrels with metal tops was loaded in the forward cargo. He said they were labeled as hydrogen chloride. We queried the lgw ground personnel; but they did not know anything about this. We then contacted lgw operations via ramp; as well as dispatch via satellite radio. In response; load control canceled our load closeout. After an approximately 40-min delay; load control issued a revised closeout with the following text message at the bottom: 'lgw verifies that no hydrogen chloride has been loaded and that any chemical is of non-restr variety. Hydrogen chloride would not be at all acceptable.' we then departed lgw without further delay. After arrival; the relief pilot and I; with the help of cargo personnel; inspected the pallet in question. The barrels were labeled 'valaciclovir hydrochloride ground.'

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B777 FLT CREW CONCERNED WITH POSSIBLE HAZMAT CARGO.

Narrative: DURING PUSHBACK AT LGW; THE RELIEF PLT TOLD ME HE HAD NOTICED DURING HIS EXTERIOR PREFLT INSPECTION THAT A SHRINK WRAPPED PALLET OF SMALL CARDBOARD BARRELS WITH METAL TOPS WAS LOADED IN THE FORWARD CARGO. HE SAID THEY WERE LABELED AS HYDROGEN CHLORIDE. WE QUERIED THE LGW GND PERSONNEL; BUT THEY DID NOT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS. WE THEN CONTACTED LGW OPS VIA RAMP; AS WELL AS DISPATCH VIA SATELLITE RADIO. IN RESPONSE; LOAD CTL CANCELED OUR LOAD CLOSEOUT. AFTER AN APPROX 40-MIN DELAY; LOAD CTL ISSUED A REVISED CLOSEOUT WITH THE FOLLOWING TEXT MESSAGE AT THE BOTTOM: 'LGW VERIFIES THAT NO HYDROGEN CHLORIDE HAS BEEN LOADED AND THAT ANY CHEMICAL IS OF NON-RESTR VARIETY. HYDROGEN CHLORIDE WOULD NOT BE AT ALL ACCEPTABLE.' WE THEN DEPARTED LGW WITHOUT FURTHER DELAY. AFTER ARR; THE RELIEF PLT AND I; WITH THE HELP OF CARGO PERSONNEL; INSPECTED THE PALLET IN QUESTION. THE BARRELS WERE LABELED 'VALACICLOVIR HYDROCHLORIDE GND.'

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.