Cargo Door opening before push back
 

On a recent flight, our push back was delayed for a few minutes. Two of the food trolleys from the back galley were brought to the front, so I thought there must have been a problem locking them in.

Just before the 10 mins to land bell came on, our Captain gave an update, to advise that despite being delayed slightly at the outset we had made good time etc., Also, said the reason for the delay was that one of the cargo doors had got caught by the wind and had opened before pushback. They thanked the passenger who alerted the crew to the situation.

It definitely was not very windy where we were flying from, so just wondering:-


i. Is this an unusual occurence?

ii. At what point would an alarm - visual or aural have sounded to alert flight crew to the open door, had the passenger not noticed it?

iii. I guess the movement of the trollies was unconnected?

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

And Happy New Year everybody.

This sounds extremely fishy.

A cargo door that had opened of its own accord after being "caught by the wind" would not simply be closed and the aircraft despatched without further investigation.

The crew would be alerted to an open door as soon as it became unlatched and, in the case of a belly cargo door, long before it had opened far enough for a passenger on board to be able to see it.

I thought exactly the same.

How could a correctly closed door be affected by the wind on the ground yet be okay when flying at 400+mph?

It sounds more like someone didn't close the door properly and either the door warning system wasn't working correctly, or it was working and someone didn't notice the warning light.

Thank you I was thinking exactly like you.

I have asked the question as I am mere SLF and I have relayed it as it happened.

Thank you.

What type of aircraft was involved Maddie?

Hi,

It was an Airbus A320.

I can assure you that an A320 cargo door does not get 'caught by the wind'..

It might be (and this is my imagination) that the FC thought "Caught by the wind" better than "We forgot". If that's the case, I would think it a reasonable white lie. Let's say the door was closed but not latched, let's say the tell-tale lamp had failed - the a/c would not pressurise and so they would stop and investigate. MY GUESS!!

Don't think pressurisation would start whilst on the ground...

As I understand it pressurisation starts with with the take off roll, but this might be manufacturer specific. Of ocurse, it is possible that a door that was closed but not latched and had a faulty indicator might not be revealed until two minutes into climb and necessitate a return.

Or, was "Cargo Door" just a simple euphemism for the trolley latching system ?

Quite so. The point of pressurisation, after all, is to get the cabin altitude below the actual altitude - so it's pretty pointless doing that on the ground.

Having said that, I've been on board aircraft where that was being done during post-maintenance px checks.

Actually, a lot of aircraft have a ground pre-pressurisation range - so they do pressurise on the ground.

It's possible that before the cargo door(s) were closed the external handle was displaced. This prevents the door from being close 'till someone pushes the handle back to it's correct position.

I had several instances in BA where baggage handlers would just 'arrive' in the middle of a pushback sequence, ie anti coll on, ATC clearance, tug driver cleared to push, and the first I would know is a cargo door light comes on and bags get thrown in. Maybe that was 'the wind'?

I did use to wonder about the accuracy of the load sheet I had signed....................:confused:

Final figures vs. Loadsheet?

No Radio Loadsheets on these occasions.

It's worse now BOAC ! ;)