Two distinctly different takes on how an engine was left running on a crj-900 with no crewmember in ...

Narrative:

We arrived and as I was shutting the engines down the ground power which had been applied to the aircraft after the first engine was shut down turned off. Because the APU was not running; I got out of my seat to yell out the door for the ground crew to re-establish the power. As I got out of my seat; the first officer was still in his seat. I said I would be right back. As I looked out the aircraft door I saw the ground crew working on the power and turned back into the plane; never actually leaving the aircraft. I then saw there were no longer any passengers on board and decided to blow my nose in the forward lavatory real quick while the first officer (first officer) was up front and they were putting power back on. As I walked into the lav my first officer and I must have crossed paths as he headed to the back; and the cockpit was empty for about 20-30 seconds until I got out of the lav and back into the flight deck. I then got into my chair and shut the engine down uneventfully.better communication with my first officer to stay put until I get back would do the trick. He thought I was coming back up instead I needed a kleenex right away and stepped into the forward lav.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Two distinctly different takes on how an engine was left running on a CRJ-900 with no crewmember in the cockpit. Fortunately the outcome was benign but; nonetheless; embarrassing.

Narrative: We arrived and as I was shutting the engines down the ground power which had been applied to the aircraft after the first engine was shut down turned off. Because the APU was not running; I got out of my seat to yell out the door for the ground crew to re-establish the power. As I got out of my seat; the First Officer was still in his seat. I said I would be right back. As I looked out the aircraft door I saw the ground crew working on the power and turned back into the plane; never actually leaving the aircraft. I then saw there were no longer any passengers on board and decided to blow my nose in the forward lavatory real quick while the First Officer (FO) was up front and they were putting power back on. As I walked into the lav my FO and I must have crossed paths as he headed to the back; and the cockpit was empty for about 20-30 Seconds until I got out of the lav and back into the flight deck. I then got into my chair and shut the engine down uneventfully.Better communication with my FO to stay put until I get back would do the trick. He thought I was coming back up instead I needed a kleenex right away and stepped into the forward LAV.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.

Attributes
ACN	1219522
Time
Date	201411
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Regional Jet 900 (CRJ900)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Turbine Engine
Person 1
Function	Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Person 2
Function	Other / Unknown
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown

Two distinctly different takes on how an engine was left running on a crj-900 with no crewmember in the cockpit. Fortunately the outcome was benign but; nonetheless; embarrassing.