Narrative:

[The] trip was for a football team. We were handed a sheet that had our cargo weight of 6;400 pounds and 136 passengers. We were then handed a sheet with everyones weights; the first officer added all of them up and divided by the number of passengers. The first officer did a manual weight and balance with those numbers. When the weight and balance was complete it was found that there were 137 on board. The first officer adjusted the weight and balance to show 137. We closed up and were getting on our way when the tower called and gave us new weather and winds out of the south at 10 KTS. The first officer checked our takeoff performance for the runway and found we were ok to 143;100 with optimum flaps. On the takeoff roll the right engine was slow to spool up once spooled I set power. When I called V1 rotate we were close to the end of the runway the first officer rotated and had the nose off the ground. I assisted in pulling back on the yoke thats when I heard a bang. Once we were airborne the tower questioned us if we were ok. I responded yes why? They responded over to departure. When we put up the gear the left main showed a red light. I ran the checklist and contacted tower to see if we hit anything. They said no. I then contacted maintenance control via commercial radio. I told them of the situation and they advised me to cycle the gear. When cycled the left gear came up but now we had a nose red light. The nose gear was up but it sounded like the nose gear door was open. Maintenance told us to cycle two more times. The red light stayed and dispatch advised us to land at at our departure airport. Center contacted us twice once telling us we hit some lights and then saying they found a chunk of tire. I then took control of the aircraft and upon arrival there was a cross wind for the runway. I made a long final and configured the airplane early. I was able to touch down in the touchdown zone with the right main gear first. When I was fully down we held center line and applied reversers and brakes. We stopped on the runway and were towed most of the way to the ramp. The tug was battery operated and died before we made it to the ramp. We deplaned from the taxiway. When our rescue plane arrived the ground handlers moved all the cargo to our new plane. On my walk around I noticed cases of water and power aid that were not visible on the first flight. That weight was added for our next leg. We talked to the tower and also noticed the red light on the gear. We contacted tower to find out if there was any damage. Ran our checklists and contacted company.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A MD80 carrying a football team hit some runway lights on takeoff because of a long takeoff roll. After returning to the airport they found cases water had not been included on the original weight and balance.

Narrative: [The] trip was for a football team. We were handed a sheet that had our cargo weight of 6;400 LBS and 136 passengers. We were then handed a sheet with everyones weights; the First Officer added all of them up and divided by the number of passengers. The First Officer did a manual weight and balance with those numbers. When the weight and balance was complete it was found that there were 137 on board. The First Officer adjusted the weight and balance to show 137. We closed up and were getting on our way when the Tower called and gave us new weather and winds out of the south at 10 KTS. The First Officer checked our takeoff performance for the runway and found we were OK to 143;100 with optimum flaps. On the takeoff roll the right engine was slow to spool up once spooled I set power. When I called V1 rotate we were close to the end of the runway the First Officer rotated and had the nose off the ground. I assisted in pulling back on the yoke thats when I heard a bang. Once we were airborne the Tower questioned us if we were OK. I responded yes why? They responded over to departure. When we put up the gear the left main showed a red light. I ran the checklist and contacted Tower to see if we hit anything. They said no. I then contacted Maintenance Control via commercial radio. I told them of the situation and they advised me to cycle the gear. When cycled the left gear came up but now we had a nose red light. The nose gear was up but it sounded like the nose gear door was open. Maintenance told us to cycle two more times. The red light stayed and Dispatch advised us to land at at our departure airport. Center contacted us twice once telling us we hit some lights and then saying they found a chunk of tire. I then took control of the aircraft and upon arrival there was a cross wind for the runway. I made a long final and configured the airplane early. I was able to touch down in the touchdown zone with the right main gear first. When I was fully down we held center line and applied reversers and brakes. We stopped on the runway and were towed most of the way to the ramp. The tug was battery operated and died before we made it to the ramp. We deplaned from the taxiway. When our rescue plane arrived the ground handlers moved all the cargo to our new plane. On my walk around I noticed cases of water and power aid that were not visible on the first flight. That weight was added for our next leg. We talked to the Tower and also noticed the red light on the gear. We contacted Tower to find out if there was any damage. Ran our checklists and contacted company.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.