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Originally Posted by jim
The captain is ultimately responsible for the weight/balance issues on the aircraft
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Not quite so fast. The crew of the a/c has no clue what is happening with the weight and balance until they are told by someone else. And even then, they don't know what is where, ie how many bags, how much freight, and so on. They get a printout (or display on ACARS screen) that tells them how many pounds (total of all cargo) are where and what their AI/CG is. No responsibility falls on the captain for the w/b of the airplane. They don't even do any math relating to the w/b. There are people who sit in front of computers all day and calculate MTOW, zero fuel weights, max structural landing weight, etc. so that the pilot and f/o don't have to. I know what you're thinking, the captain is ultimately responsible because he has to approve them before take-off. Problem with that logic is, he's not the one that did the calculations and actually loaded the cargo. If an accident were to occur that entailed the FAA, DOT, or NTSB investigating, I can guarantee that the first person they are going to talk to after the captain (assuming he is still alive) is the person who's name is on the load manifest. That is the person they will hold responsible for the w/b of the airplane, not the captain.
Just a side note, not all of these arguments hold true for the regional jets. The f/o does in fact usually do some math to figure out the AI/CG, but even then, they are going on information provided to them by someone else who actually did the work. Discrepancies, even small ones, have the potential to bring an airplane down.