Narrative:

It was the first leg of the trip and the APU was inoperable. The heat was excessive and I elected to hold boarding until an air conditioning cart could be provided. After about 30 minutes; a low pressure cart was connected. Cabin temperature was 97 degrees as indicated by a thermometer on the flight attendant's flight bag. Passengers were boarded shortly after. I made three requests for a high pressure huffer cart during boarding; and one was finally provided. Unfortunately; not a single ramp worker knew how to use it. The first officer made at least two trips to the ramp in an attempt to help connect the huffer cart. The huffer cart was connected; and I instructed the ramp to disconnect the low pressure air conditioning cart. Approximately five minutes later the paper work was handed out and flight attendant closed the main cabin door. The aircraft immediately began to pressurize. I instructed the flight attendant to re-open the door and it opened very abruptly. The ramp crew had failed to disconnect the air conditioning cart. The door wasn't closed for more than 10 seconds. I had no idea that it would pressurize so quickly. The flight attendant was a little shaken up; but seem fine otherwise; and we continued to our destination without further incident. Over the next three days of the trip flight attendant complained of some minor pain in the shoulders. She elected to stay on and continue the four day. She called me to inform me that she had reported the injury to her in-flight supervisor. In the future I will personally verify that all exterior carts have been disconnected. I feel responsible for what could have been a very serious injury to my flight attendant. Opening the main cabin door may not have been the best option. I suppose the emergency depressurization switch would have been a safer alternative. The ramp personnel are poorly trained and unfamiliar with the use of high pressure carts; low pressure carts; and ground power. The heat was excessive. The cabin had cooled off; but the cockpit remained at 97 degrees throughout this incident. It was a serious distraction. Apus should not be deferred in august.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Air carrier ramp personnel did not know how to properly connect and operate air conditioning and ground start air carts for a CL65. A Flight Attendant was injured when the cabin pressurized forcing her to open the main cabin door because an air cart was not disconnected.

Narrative: It was the first leg of the trip and the APU was inoperable. The heat was excessive and I elected to hold boarding until an air conditioning cart could be provided. After about 30 minutes; a low pressure cart was connected. Cabin temperature was 97 degrees as indicated by a thermometer on the Flight Attendant's flight bag. Passengers were boarded shortly after. I made three requests for a high pressure huffer cart during boarding; and one was finally provided. Unfortunately; not a single ramp worker knew how to use it. The First Officer made at least two trips to the ramp in an attempt to help connect the huffer cart. The huffer cart was connected; and I instructed the ramp to disconnect the low pressure air conditioning cart. Approximately five minutes later the paper work was handed out and Flight Attendant closed the main cabin door. The aircraft immediately began to pressurize. I instructed the Flight Attendant to re-open the door and it opened very abruptly. The ramp crew had failed to disconnect the air conditioning cart. The door wasn't closed for more than 10 seconds. I had no idea that it would pressurize so quickly. The Flight Attendant was a little shaken up; but seem fine otherwise; and we continued to our destination without further incident. Over the next three days of the trip Flight Attendant complained of some minor pain in the shoulders. She elected to stay on and continue the four day. She called me to inform me that she had reported the injury to her in-flight Supervisor. In the future I will personally verify that all exterior carts have been disconnected. I feel responsible for what could have been a very serious injury to my Flight Attendant. Opening the main cabin door may not have been the best option. I suppose the emergency depressurization switch would have been a safer alternative. The ramp personnel are poorly trained and unfamiliar with the use of high pressure carts; low pressure carts; and ground power. The heat was excessive. The cabin had cooled off; but the cockpit remained at 97 degrees throughout this incident. It was a serious distraction. APUs should not be deferred in August.

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.