Narrative:

On the ground in ZZZ; the 'a' flight attendant told us she thought the door handle was not feeling right and not latching correctly. The first officer went back to try the door handle and did not feel anything was unusual; the door latched right away with no problems and the warning light was off. The 'a' flight attendant also said that she could see daylight around the door; but this was determined to be related to the existing write-up that had a deferred maintenance item with a panel missing on the L1 door. Since everything was normal; and everyone was ok with the door; we elected to depart ZZZ. On climb out; the 'a' flight attendant complained about a loud noise from the L1 door. Flight crew monitored pressurization and everything was normal throughout the flight. No noise was noted from the L1 door at cruise (not sure when noise stopped). In cruise the 'a' flight attendant gave the flight crew a crew write-up form that noted both the intermittent door handle issue and the noise from the L1 door. We; therefore; wrote up both issues in the maintenance logbook with the verbiage tense as written by the 'a' flight attendant and not what the first officer experienced (as in not troubleshooting it or second-guessing the flight attendant after she made the write-up). After maintenance in ZZZ1 looked at the door and tried the intermittent handle; they decided that the door handle's internal links were out of rig. The mechanics told us there was a 'history' on this door. The flight was later canceled. I am not sure what could be done to prevent this. The mechanics told us that this door had a 'history' since it came back from outsourced heavy maintenance and there were several write-ups on the door since that heavy maintenance. As far as the flight crew goes; I guess the only thing that we could have done differently is just to have written up the door in ZZZ even though the first officer could not duplicate what the 'a' flight attendant experienced as this problem appeared to be intermittent.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: AN MD80 CAPT RPTS DEPARTING WITH A MAIN CABIN DOOR NOT COMPLETELY SEALED. CABIN ATTENDANT STATED THE DOOR WAS LOUD. UPON ARR; MAINT GNDED ACFT.

Narrative: ON THE GND IN ZZZ; THE 'A' FLT ATTENDANT TOLD US SHE THOUGHT THE DOOR HANDLE WAS NOT FEELING RIGHT AND NOT LATCHING CORRECTLY. THE FO WENT BACK TO TRY THE DOOR HANDLE AND DID NOT FEEL ANYTHING WAS UNUSUAL; THE DOOR LATCHED RIGHT AWAY WITH NO PROBS AND THE WARNING LIGHT WAS OFF. THE 'A' FLT ATTENDANT ALSO SAID THAT SHE COULD SEE DAYLIGHT AROUND THE DOOR; BUT THIS WAS DETERMINED TO BE RELATED TO THE EXISTING WRITE-UP THAT HAD A DEFERRED MAINT ITEM WITH A PANEL MISSING ON THE L1 DOOR. SINCE EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL; AND EVERYONE WAS OK WITH THE DOOR; WE ELECTED TO DEPART ZZZ. ON CLBOUT; THE 'A' FLT ATTENDANT COMPLAINED ABOUT A LOUD NOISE FROM THE L1 DOOR. FLT CREW MONITORED PRESSURIZATION AND EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL THROUGHOUT THE FLT. NO NOISE WAS NOTED FROM THE L1 DOOR AT CRUISE (NOT SURE WHEN NOISE STOPPED). IN CRUISE THE 'A' FLT ATTENDANT GAVE THE FLT CREW A CREW WRITE-UP FORM THAT NOTED BOTH THE INTERMITTENT DOOR HANDLE ISSUE AND THE NOISE FROM THE L1 DOOR. WE; THEREFORE; WROTE UP BOTH ISSUES IN THE MAINT LOGBOOK WITH THE VERBIAGE TENSE AS WRITTEN BY THE 'A' FLT ATTENDANT AND NOT WHAT THE FO EXPERIENCED (AS IN NOT TROUBLESHOOTING IT OR SECOND-GUESSING THE FLT ATTENDANT AFTER SHE MADE THE WRITE-UP). AFTER MAINT IN ZZZ1 LOOKED AT THE DOOR AND TRIED THE INTERMITTENT HANDLE; THEY DECIDED THAT THE DOOR HANDLE'S INTERNAL LINKS WERE OUT OF RIG. THE MECHS TOLD US THERE WAS A 'HISTORY' ON THIS DOOR. THE FLT WAS LATER CANCELED. I AM NOT SURE WHAT COULD BE DONE TO PREVENT THIS. THE MECHS TOLD US THAT THIS DOOR HAD A 'HISTORY' SINCE IT CAME BACK FROM OUTSOURCED HVY MAINT AND THERE WERE SEVERAL WRITE-UPS ON THE DOOR SINCE THAT HVY MAINT. AS FAR AS THE FLT CREW GOES; I GUESS THE ONLY THING THAT WE COULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY IS JUST TO HAVE WRITTEN UP THE DOOR IN ZZZ EVEN THOUGH THE FO COULD NOT DUPLICATE WHAT THE 'A' FLT ATTENDANT EXPERIENCED AS THIS PROB APPEARED TO BE INTERMITTENT.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.