Date: 201308
Local time of day: 0601-1200
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Flight conditions: VMC
Aircraft: B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Parked
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Captain; Pilot Not Flying
Anomaly: Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Hazardous Material Violation
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: Pre-flight
Result: General None Reported / Taken
Contributing factors: Human Factors
Primary problem: Human Factors

Narrative: When the preflight paperwork printed I noticed that there was a comment in the Remarks noting that the aircraft had dangerous goods aboard. I immediately called Operations and asked if there were dangerous good onboard because my paperwork showed it and I had never been given a [dangerous goods form]. They responded that we did NOT have any dangerous goods on the flight. I then used my cell phone (aircraft still parked at gate) to call Dispatch and explained situation to him and asked to talk to Load Planning. Load Planning said that there was dry ice in bin #2. I inquired as to how much because I had not received a [dangerous goods form] and he responded that it was less than 2 1/2 LBS and the form was not required. At the same time the First Officer (after hearing the conversation with Load Planning) called again into Operations via company frequency and asked again if there was dry ice on the airplane and was now told that yes there was but it was less than 2 1/2 LBS. I inquired on the radio to verify that it was LESS than 2 1/2 LBS and the answer was 'YES'. At that point with Load Planning still on the phone I informed load planning that Operations has now said that there was dry ice and it was less that the required weight to generate a form and that I was good to go. After departure and at cruise altitude I started thinking about the delay that was created and hoops that we had to jump through to clarify the dangerous goods/preflight paperwork issue so I sent an ACARS message to Dispatch and Load Planning. I suggested that in the future if there is dry ice loaded and it is less than the 2 1/2 LBS that either omit the comment [in the Remarks section] or add an expanded comment explaining that 'dry ice weight is less than 2.5 LBS and no [form is] required.' This would adequately inform the crew and prevent future delays while the Captain and crew investigate why they were not given a form... I received a response from Dispatch stating 'No problem will inform Load Planning Supervisor; thanks for the information.' Roughly 20 minutes later I received another ACARS message from Dispatch stating that Operations had put the [dangerous goods form] on the box in cargo bin #2. At that point I realized that there were dangerous goods on the airplane and that we had been misled. I then asked Dispatch via ACARS two times for the weight of dry ice and never received a reply. Upon landing and completion of the Parking Checklist I went to the ramp to investigate and validate how much dangerous goods/dry ice was on the airplane. I witnessed 5 very large boxes (small refrigerator size) being offloaded. They were clearly marked with HAZMAT and labeled with 25 kg dry ice. The last box to be offloaded had the unsigned dangerous goods form on the side of the box. So conversion is a little over 50 LBS per box; 5 x 50 = 250 LBS of non documented dangerous goods on my flight. I asked ramp personal to call a supervisor. Two supervisors arrived within 10 minutes. We discussed what had happened and exchanged information. Photos were taken. I called the Dispatcher who was working the flight to inform him of what had happened and to inform the Director and Load Planning Supervisor. I lastly called the Flight Operations Duty Manager to inform him.




Synopsis: B737 Captain reported he had dangerous goods loaded on his aircraft and multiple procedural violations were noted.