Narrative:

During preflight inspection of aircraft; numerous dents were discovered on the left side of the fuselage; aft of the kevlar panel. Maintenance control was informed; and we were told to delay boarding. After some time; we were instructed by dispatch to swap to a new aircraft. Flight attendants and myself (captain) got onboard the new aircraft. Maintenance panel in forward cabin was found open and maintenance was called to close it. The captain was on the flight deck at this time. Catering came onboard and had to shut the flight deck door to cater the aircraft. The pilot who brought the aircraft in from spokane came back onboard and said he left his headset onboard. We looked for it on the flight deck but could not find it. The cleaners had just left the aircraft and we suspected they might have taken it. After this pilot left; the first officer came onto the flight deck and continued his duties. As he had not been present on the flight deck during the time I was there; it was assumed he had been occupied with doing the pre-flight walk-around inspection. Boarding commenced and the customer service agent brought the other pilot's headset bag out to the aircraft; as the cleaners had dropped it off at the gate. I called scheduling and asked them to inform the pilot I had his headset and to come back to the aircraft and collect it. He did so.boarding was completed and we started; pushed and taxied out as per normal.on taxiway taxiing towards the runway; a flight attendant called the flight deck and said there was a fractional pilot who wanted to speak to the flight crew. He informed us that a passenger had seen that the external AC power hatch on the #2 engine was open. We asked to hold on a taxiway; short of the runway and requested an operations vehicle to come and close the panel. We ran the applicable checklists and shut down the #2 engine. The operations vehicle brought one of our maintenance personnel and a ramper and they closed the panel and gave us the thumbs up. Up to this point I had been concerned about rectifying the problem; but now started to wonder how this open panel had been overlooked by the first officer and ramp personnel on their respective pre-flight walk-around inspections. I asked the first officer if he had simply overlooked this panel on his walk-around. At this time he informed me that he had in fact not done a pre-flight walk-around inspection at all; due to the rush of swapping aircraft and gate agents pressuring us to board the aircraft to avoid a delay. We did the applicable checklists and started the #2 engine. At this time I was considering what to do next. Taking into consideration the following facts: that the first officer had not done a pre-flight inspection; the aircraft had just returned from having heavy maintenance done on it and the fact that the external AC power hatch had been left open (presumably by maintenance personnel working on the aircraft); and that this aircraft had in fact not been scheduled to do any passenger flights immediately on its return from the heavy maintenance; in the interests of safety I elected to return to the gate and have the first officer do a complete and thorough pre-flight walk-around inspection. I informed dispatch of the situation; attempted to call the chief pilot; made a PA to the passengers and we returned to the gate. On parking and shutdown; the first officer completed the walk-around inspection and I liaised with dispatch and the chief pilot regarding the situation. Subsequent to this; we departed and the flight completed normally.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A passenger pilot informs DHC-8-400 flight crew; after an aircraft swap; that the external AC power hatch was open. Subsequent discussions reveal a preflight was not completed; the flight crew returned to the gate.

Narrative: During preflight inspection of aircraft; numerous dents were discovered on the left side of the fuselage; aft of the Kevlar panel. Maintenance Control was informed; and we were told to delay boarding. After some time; we were instructed by Dispatch to swap to a new Aircraft. Flight attendants and myself (Captain) got onboard the new aircraft. Maintenance panel in forward cabin was found open and maintenance was called to close it. The Captain was on the flight deck at this time. Catering came onboard and had to shut the flight deck door to cater the aircraft. The pilot who brought the aircraft in from Spokane came back onboard and said he left his headset onboard. We looked for it on the flight deck but could not find it. The cleaners had just left the aircraft and we suspected they might have taken it. After this pilot left; the First Officer came onto the flight deck and continued his duties. As he had not been present on the flight deck during the time I was there; it was assumed he had been occupied with doing the pre-flight walk-around inspection. Boarding commenced and the Customer Service Agent brought the other pilot's headset bag out to the aircraft; as the cleaners had dropped it off at the gate. I called scheduling and asked them to inform the pilot I had his headset and to come back to the aircraft and collect it. He did so.Boarding was completed and we started; pushed and taxied out as per normal.On taxiway taxiing towards the runway; a Flight Attendant called the flight deck and said there was a fractional pilot who wanted to speak to the flight crew. He informed us that a passenger had seen that the external AC power hatch on the #2 engine was open. We asked to hold on a taxiway; short of the runway and requested an operations vehicle to come and close the panel. We ran the applicable checklists and shut down the #2 engine. The operations vehicle brought one of our maintenance personnel and a ramper and they closed the panel and gave us the thumbs up. Up to this point I had been concerned about rectifying the problem; but now started to wonder how this open panel had been overlooked by the First Officer and ramp personnel on their respective pre-flight walk-around inspections. I asked the First Officer if he had simply overlooked this panel on his walk-around. At this time he informed me that he had in fact not done a pre-flight walk-around inspection at all; due to the rush of swapping aircraft and gate agents pressuring us to board the aircraft to avoid a delay. We did the applicable checklists and started the #2 engine. At this time I was considering what to do next. Taking into consideration the following facts: that the First Officer had not done a pre-flight inspection; the aircraft had just returned from having heavy maintenance done on it and the fact that the external AC power hatch had been left open (presumably by maintenance personnel working on the aircraft); and that this aircraft had in fact not been scheduled to do any passenger flights immediately on its return from the heavy maintenance; in the interests of safety I elected to return to the gate and have the First Officer do a complete and thorough pre-flight walk-around inspection. I informed Dispatch of the situation; attempted to call the Chief Pilot; made a PA to the passengers and we returned to the gate. On parking and shutdown; the First Officer completed the walk-around inspection and I liaised with Dispatch and the Chief Pilot regarding the situation. Subsequent to this; we departed and the flight completed normally.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.