CRJ200 first officer reports that cargo door balance springs are maintenance deferrable and that doo...

Narrative:

Aircraft had MEL 52-31-01 for balance spring on cargo door. It was reported to us that the door would not stay up on several occasions. When we arrived back in base I checked the door and found that it was almost impossible to lift and jammed slightly in the tracks. When I lifted it up I found that it wouldn't stay in place. Maintenance was contacted and inspected the door. They said they could get it to stay in place. It was signed off even though we told them several times that it wasn't staying in place during loading. The captain and I went back to inspect it again to see if we thought it was safe. We found that the door would only occasionally stay up and that when it did come down it slammed down with considerable force. I discovered that this aircraft actually had the door straps to hold it up in the event the springs didn't. I was able to only get one side of the strap attached to hold the door in place. I went to speak directly with the ramp manager and agent to make sure they new what the strap was for and how to use it for their safety. Neither was familiar with the strap or its use. The other thing is that I know many of our aircraft do not have this strap in place. Previously the ramp was trying to jam passenger bags into the door to hold it up. On arrival we contacted operations and specifically instructed them on the use of the strap. While conducting the post flight I found the ramp agent in the cargo bin with the door propped partially up with a chock. I instructed him how to use the strap for his safety to keep the door up and I could see that that was the only thing holding the door up. Maintenance was informed again of the issue and the safety concerns but didn't seem interested at all. MEL 52-31-01 should be modified to require the installation and confirmed serviceability of the cargo door retention strap. Publish safety training materials for the use of the straps and request that their use become standard for all operations not just associated with this MEL. In the event that the straps are not available then MEL should not be applicable and the entire cargo area should be deferred until the door can be fixed. The risk of serious injury is too great not to do this.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ200 First Officer reports that cargo door balance springs are maintenance deferrable and that doors with defective springs can suddenly close with considerable force. Door straps are available to hold the doors open but are not installed on all aircraft.

Narrative: Aircraft had MEL 52-31-01 for balance spring on cargo door. It was reported to us that the door would not stay up on several occasions. When we arrived back in base I checked the door and found that it was almost impossible to lift and jammed slightly in the tracks. When I lifted it up I found that it wouldn't stay in place. Maintenance was contacted and inspected the door. They said they could get it to stay in place. It was signed off even though we told them several times that it wasn't staying in place during loading. The Captain and I went back to inspect it again to see if we thought it was safe. We found that the door would only occasionally stay up and that when it did come down it slammed down with considerable force. I discovered that this aircraft actually had the door straps to hold it up in the event the springs didn't. I was able to only get one side of the strap attached to hold the door in place. I went to speak directly with the Ramp Manager and Agent to make sure they new what the strap was for and how to use it for their safety. Neither was familiar with the strap or its use. The other thing is that I know many of our aircraft DO NOT have this strap in place. Previously the ramp was trying to jam passenger bags into the door to hold it up. On arrival we contacted operations and specifically instructed them on the use of the strap. While conducting the post flight I found the ramp agent in the cargo bin with the door propped partially up with a chock. I instructed him how to use the strap for his safety to keep the door up and I could see that that was the only thing holding the door up. Maintenance was informed again of the issue and the safety concerns but didn't seem interested at all. MEL 52-31-01 should be modified to require the installation and confirmed serviceability of the cargo door retention strap. Publish safety training materials for the use of the straps and request that their use become standard for all operations not just associated with this MEL. In the event that the straps are not available then MEL should not be applicable and the entire cargo area should be deferred until the door can be fixed. The risk of serious injury is too great not to do this.

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	901542
Time
Date	201007
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Cargo Door
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying First Officer
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Other / Unknown

CRJ200 first officer reports that cargo door balance springs are maintenance deferrable and that doors with defective springs can suddenly close with considerable force. Door straps are available to hold the doors open but are not installed on all aircraft.