Narrative:

This aircraft had over 10 times lost power at the gate due to several problems and two different flts under the same flight number. The APU on this aircraft was marginal, cooling air barely working, but unable to keep up with the 106 degree las heat. The rampers were very slow at getting to us to push us out. We left 21 mins late after being ready 5 mins early on our first attempt. And after a flight interrupt and return, the subsequent fix, we left over 20 mins after the door had been closed, but were ready for over 5 mins before that. During these delays, power was pulled without asking, causing a complete power loss, and twice they returned after my complaining about the APU overheating and returned ground power causing more power spikes to the aircraft as we continued to switch power sources to save the APU. On the second try out of gate, the circuit breaker on the outside of the aircraft kept popping due to what maintenance was telling us was bad power coming from that gate. This happened about 5 times, each time causing complete aircraft power loss, subsequent APU usage, and then reconnect to external to save the overheating APU. Upon starting the aircraft after finally pushing back on our second try, the flight recorder off light and dfdau fail lights came on. I found a flight crew placard for flight recorder off light in the MEL, but had to call maintenance on my cell phone to find out what to do with the dfdau. They told me it was part of the flight recorder and to flight crew placard that as well under the same 31-2. We need a reference for this failure in our MEL.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD80 CREW LISTS PROBS ENCOUNTERED IN ATTEMPTING TO DEPART LAS.

Narrative: THIS ACFT HAD OVER 10 TIMES LOST POWER AT THE GATE DUE TO SEVERAL PROBS AND TWO DIFFERENT FLTS UNDER THE SAME FLT NUMBER. THE APU ON THIS ACFT WAS MARGINAL, COOLING AIR BARELY WORKING, BUT UNABLE TO KEEP UP WITH THE 106 DEG LAS HEAT. THE RAMPERS WERE VERY SLOW AT GETTING TO US TO PUSH US OUT. WE LEFT 21 MINS LATE AFTER BEING READY 5 MINS EARLY ON OUR FIRST ATTEMPT. AND AFTER A FLT INTERRUPT AND RETURN, THE SUBSEQUENT FIX, WE LEFT OVER 20 MINS AFTER THE DOOR HAD BEEN CLOSED, BUT WERE READY FOR OVER 5 MINS BEFORE THAT. DURING THESE DELAYS, POWER WAS PULLED WITHOUT ASKING, CAUSING A COMPLETE POWER LOSS, AND TWICE THEY RETURNED AFTER MY COMPLAINING ABOUT THE APU OVERHEATING AND RETURNED GND POWER CAUSING MORE POWER SPIKES TO THE ACFT AS WE CONTINUED TO SWITCH POWER SOURCES TO SAVE THE APU. ON THE SECOND TRY OUT OF GATE, THE CIRCUIT BREAKER ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE ACFT KEPT POPPING DUE TO WHAT MAINT WAS TELLING US WAS BAD POWER COMING FROM THAT GATE. THIS HAPPENED ABOUT 5 TIMES, EACH TIME CAUSING COMPLETE ACFT POWER LOSS, SUBSEQUENT APU USAGE, AND THEN RECONNECT TO EXTERNAL TO SAVE THE OVERHEATING APU. UPON STARTING THE ACFT AFTER FINALLY PUSHING BACK ON OUR SECOND TRY, THE FLT RECORDER OFF LIGHT AND DFDAU FAIL LIGHTS CAME ON. I FOUND A FLT CREW PLACARD FOR FLT RECORDER OFF LIGHT IN THE MEL, BUT HAD TO CALL MAINT ON MY CELL PHONE TO FIND OUT WHAT TO DO WITH THE DFDAU. THEY TOLD ME IT WAS PART OF THE FLT RECORDER AND TO FLT CREW PLACARD THAT AS WELL UNDER THE SAME 31-2. WE NEED A REFERENCE FOR THIS FAILURE IN OUR MEL.

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.