Narrative:

I arrived at the outbound aircraft with a write up in the logbook for a loose right service door handle. After taking the handle apart and tightening all bolts the mechanic stated problem was internal; door was unsafe; and he was getting pressure to sign it off as good to go. He said he didn't think the door was safe and wasn't going to do it; and a supervisor will be out to talk to me. Supervisor arrived and stated [that the] door has a history; needs an adjustment; and thought it would be safe for flight. I said it probably is [safe] because pressurization would hold it closed; but isn't safe for taxi and I wanted it fixed or I was refusing the aircraft. He left with the logbook and several minutes later I heard it was out of service because captain refused aircraft. They chose not to fix it; I didn't just randomly refuse an aircraft. I went on the recommendation of the certified mechanic who actually did the work on the door; and refused to sign off on the door. I was also never given the opportunity to place a refusal write up in the log to notify follow on crews.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 Captain arrives at the aircraft to find a Mechanic working on the right service door handle which is reported to be loose. The Mechanic believes the problem is internal and cannot be quickly corrected. A supervisor believes it will be OK and is willing to sign the logbook; but the Captain does not think so and refuses the aircraft.

Narrative: I arrived at the outbound aircraft with a write up in the logbook for a loose right service door handle. After taking the handle apart and tightening all bolts the mechanic stated problem was internal; door was unsafe; and he was getting pressure to sign it off as good to go. He said he didn't think the door was safe and wasn't going to do it; and a supervisor will be out to talk to me. Supervisor arrived and stated [that the] door has a history; needs an adjustment; and thought it would be safe for flight. I said it probably is [safe] because pressurization would hold it closed; but isn't safe for taxi and I wanted it fixed or I was refusing the aircraft. He left with the logbook and several minutes later I heard it was out of service because Captain refused aircraft. They chose not to fix it; I didn't just randomly refuse an aircraft. I went on the recommendation of the certified mechanic who actually did the work on the door; and refused to sign off on the door. I was also never given the opportunity to place a refusal write up in the log to notify follow on crews.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.