Upon noting door 3L did not indicate closed although the flight attendant felt it was; a B757 first ...

Narrative:

I sent the first officer back to check door with about one min to pushback. I was also armed as ffdo and elected to stay on flight deck with weapon and monitor radio and ground push crew. I received call from the first officer telling me we had an issue with door and needed maintenance as soon as possible. I called and maintenance arrived within 10 minutes. I stayed on flight deck while maintenance worked issue. Initially they thought it might be easy fix; but updates revealed the problem with 3L was more complicated. The first officer's quick assessment of door condition when trying to close handle undoubtedly prevented inadvertent slide deployment. I'm glad he was there at the door. After maintenance spent about 30 minutes working on door; I secured my weapon and went aft to get briefed. They told me there was clearly something seriously wrong with this door and the aircraft was out of service. I coordinated with dispatch and ops to get new aircraft. We departed 2+45 late. I elected to proceed with the flight sequence. If I had my hat; it would be off to my first officer for quick thinking. My lesson learned from this incident is that in future I will never touch a door that is not showing properly closed; but will instead call maintenance. I will instruct my first officer to do the same.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Upon noting door 3L did not indicate closed although the Flight Attendant felt it was; a B757 First Officer determined the door would not close properly and guarded it until maintenance verified it was faulty and needed maintenance attention.

Narrative: I sent the First Officer back to check door with about one min to pushback. I was also armed as FFDO and elected to stay on flight deck with weapon and monitor radio and ground push crew. I received call from the First Officer telling me we had an issue with door and needed maintenance as soon as possible. I called and maintenance arrived within 10 minutes. I stayed on flight deck while maintenance worked issue. Initially they thought it might be easy fix; but updates revealed the problem with 3L was more complicated. The First Officer's quick assessment of door condition when trying to close handle undoubtedly prevented inadvertent slide deployment. I'm glad he was there at the door. After maintenance spent about 30 minutes working on door; I secured my weapon and went aft to get briefed. They told me there was clearly something seriously wrong with this door and the aircraft was out of service. I coordinated with dispatch and ops to get new aircraft. We departed 2+45 late. I elected to proceed with the flight sequence. If I had my hat; it would be off to my First Officer for quick thinking. My lesson learned from this incident is that in future I will never touch a door that is not showing properly closed; but will instead call maintenance. I will instruct my First Officer to do the same.

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.

Attributes
ACN	841229
Time
Date	200906
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	LAX.Airport
State Reference	CA
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B757-200
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Exterior Pax/Crew Door
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Captain
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 220 Flight Crew Total 12000 Flight Crew Type 2800
Person 2
Function	First Officer
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 180 Flight Crew Total 12000 Flight Crew Type 2500
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe

Upon noting door 3L did not indicate closed although the flight attendant felt it was; a B757 first officer determined the door would not close properly and guarded it until maintenance verified it was faulty and needed maintenance attention.