Narrative:

At FL330 had momentary ECAM message 'door left aft cabin,' meaning door 2L was not fully latched, message cleared itself, then reappeared. (Got message total of 4 times.) contacted purser to have her ensure no one was tampering with door. She said there was a female passenger who had been acting very strangely since leaving las. Purser was sent to check, and to latch door. Passenger had been seen in aft galley area near door. Through an interpreter (passenger was french) passenger admitted to having attempted to open door. Found 2 pass-riders and had them situation with/watch over passenger for remainder of flight. Contacted company and asked for flight to be met by fbi. On arrival (iad) company representative and local police met flight. I emphasized that the passenger was at least unstable, and probably suicidal, and clearly should not get on our cdg flight. This event clearly highlighted the advantages of a large infrastructure and excellent communications available at my large, first rate airline. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: the captain stated that the passenger was interned at a hospital in the dca area after having been placed in an institution for psychiatric evaluation. The passenger, a woman in her mid 40's, had been in las vegas. After the fact, the airline noted that she had changed her ticket to an earlier departure date than previously planned. The woman was asked by another french speaking passenger as to why she was trying to open the passenger door. The woman said she didn't want to go home. Whether that meant she was in some form of trouble with finances or whatever, wasn't ascertained. Had she spent the family fortune? The captain said it was a 'bizarre' situation. He later figured that it would have taken a force of 25000 pounds to pull that door open. A fairly safe bet would be that the passenger could not do that. He said the ground crew coordination at iad was excellent with the personnel having a semi-profile on the woman from her ticket exchange.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN ECAM MESSAGE ALERTS THE FLC TO A PAX ATTEMPT TO OPEN THE AFT L #2 DOOR AT FL330 OVER COS.

Narrative: AT FL330 HAD MOMENTARY ECAM MESSAGE 'DOOR L AFT CABIN,' MEANING DOOR 2L WAS NOT FULLY LATCHED, MESSAGE CLRED ITSELF, THEN REAPPEARED. (GOT MESSAGE TOTAL OF 4 TIMES.) CONTACTED PURSER TO HAVE HER ENSURE NO ONE WAS TAMPERING WITH DOOR. SHE SAID THERE WAS A FEMALE PAX WHO HAD BEEN ACTING VERY STRANGELY SINCE LEAVING LAS. PURSER WAS SENT TO CHK, AND TO LATCH DOOR. PAX HAD BEEN SEEN IN AFT GALLEY AREA NEAR DOOR. THROUGH AN INTERPRETER (PAX WAS FRENCH) PAX ADMITTED TO HAVING ATTEMPTED TO OPEN DOOR. FOUND 2 PASS-RIDERS AND HAD THEM SIT WITH/WATCH OVER PAX FOR REMAINDER OF FLT. CONTACTED COMPANY AND ASKED FOR FLT TO BE MET BY FBI. ON ARR (IAD) COMPANY REPRESENTATIVE AND LCL POLICE MET FLT. I EMPHASIZED THAT THE PAX WAS AT LEAST UNSTABLE, AND PROBABLY SUICIDAL, AND CLRLY SHOULD NOT GET ON OUR CDG FLT. THIS EVENT CLRLY HIGHLIGHTED THE ADVANTAGES OF A LARGE INFRASTRUCTURE AND EXCELLENT COMS AVAILABLE AT MY LARGE, FIRST RATE AIRLINE. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE CAPT STATED THAT THE PAX WAS INTERNED AT A HOSPITAL IN THE DCA AREA AFTER HAVING BEEN PLACED IN AN INSTITUTION FOR PSYCHIATRIC EVALUATION. THE PAX, A WOMAN IN HER MID 40'S, HAD BEEN IN LAS VEGAS. AFTER THE FACT, THE AIRLINE NOTED THAT SHE HAD CHANGED HER TICKET TO AN EARLIER DEP DATE THAN PREVIOUSLY PLANNED. THE WOMAN WAS ASKED BY ANOTHER FRENCH SPEAKING PAX AS TO WHY SHE WAS TRYING TO OPEN THE PAX DOOR. THE WOMAN SAID SHE DIDN'T WANT TO GO HOME. WHETHER THAT MEANT SHE WAS IN SOME FORM OF TROUBLE WITH FINANCES OR WHATEVER, WASN'T ASCERTAINED. HAD SHE SPENT THE FAMILY FORTUNE? THE CAPT SAID IT WAS A 'BIZARRE' SIT. HE LATER FIGURED THAT IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN A FORCE OF 25000 LBS TO PULL THAT DOOR OPEN. A FAIRLY SAFE BET WOULD BE THAT THE PAX COULD NOT DO THAT. HE SAID THE GND CREW COORD AT IAD WAS EXCELLENT WITH THE PERSONNEL HAVING A SEMI-PROFILE ON THE WOMAN FROM HER TICKET EXCHANGE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.