First officer discovers dented gouge on fuselage of crj during walkaround.

Attributes
ACN	807806
Time
Date	200810
Local Time Of Day	0001 To 0600
Place
Locale Reference	airport : zzz.airport
State Reference	US
Altitude	agl single value : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Dawn
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	CRJ 900 (all) Canadair Regional Jet 900
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91 other : 217
Flight Phase	ground : parked ground : preflight
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : atp
ASRS Report	807806
Person 2
Function	flight crew : first officer
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : critical ground encounters : vehicle
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	other
Consequence	other other other
Supplementary
Problem Areas	Aircraft Company
Primary Problem	Flight Crew Human Performance

Narrative:

The crew arrived early for departure to msp. The first officer found on his preflight a 4 ft long dent and scratch on the starboard side of the airplane underneath windows 4 to 8 and notified me of the dent. I walked outside and was shocked to see a huge gouge in the side of the aircraft. I would say about 4 ft long and about 1 inch wide and 1 inch into the skin. Paint chips were all over the ground next to the airplane. I then went into the airplane and told the ramp and gate agents that the airplane was not going anywhere; probably for a long; long time. The passenger were deplaned and a write-up was called into maintenance control. Contract maintenance was called in and the station manager was called in. Many pictures were taken and as the daylight arrived the ground crew found paint chips on a tug that were used by someone who was servicing the airplane with fresh dents on the roof of the tug. No one told the crew. The first officer discovered the dent during his preflight. The WX in ZZZ was really low ceilings and visibility so if we would have not seen the dent and departed; we would have not been able to come back to ZZZ -- we would have had to go to our takeoff altitude and that would have been a problem with an unpressurized plane traveling a long distance.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FO DISCOVERS DENTED GOUGE ON FUSELAGE OF CRJ DURING WALKAROUND.

Narrative: THE CREW ARRIVED EARLY FOR DEP TO MSP. THE FO FOUND ON HIS PREFLT A 4 FT LONG DENT AND SCRATCH ON THE STARBOARD SIDE OF THE AIRPLANE UNDERNEATH WINDOWS 4 TO 8 AND NOTIFIED ME OF THE DENT. I WALKED OUTSIDE AND WAS SHOCKED TO SEE A HUGE GOUGE IN THE SIDE OF THE ACFT. I WOULD SAY ABOUT 4 FT LONG AND ABOUT 1 INCH WIDE AND 1 INCH INTO THE SKIN. PAINT CHIPS WERE ALL OVER THE GND NEXT TO THE AIRPLANE. I THEN WENT INTO THE AIRPLANE AND TOLD THE RAMP AND GATE AGENTS THAT THE AIRPLANE WAS NOT GOING ANYWHERE; PROBABLY FOR A LONG; LONG TIME. THE PAX WERE DEPLANED AND A WRITE-UP WAS CALLED INTO MAINT CTL. CONTRACT MAINT WAS CALLED IN AND THE STATION MGR WAS CALLED IN. MANY PICTURES WERE TAKEN AND AS THE DAYLIGHT ARRIVED THE GND CREW FOUND PAINT CHIPS ON A TUG THAT WERE USED BY SOMEONE WHO WAS SVCING THE AIRPLANE WITH FRESH DENTS ON THE ROOF OF THE TUG. NO ONE TOLD THE CREW. THE FO DISCOVERED THE DENT DURING HIS PREFLT. THE WX IN ZZZ WAS REALLY LOW CEILINGS AND VISIBILITY SO IF WE WOULD HAVE NOT SEEN THE DENT AND DEPARTED; WE WOULD HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO COME BACK TO ZZZ -- WE WOULD HAVE HAD TO GO TO OUR TKOF ALT AND THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN A PROB WITH AN UNPRESSURIZED PLANE TRAVELING A LONG DISTANCE.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of May 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.