Narrative:

Flight crew noticed cabin door free falling to ground during preflight without restraint. Crew contacted maintenance control who advised condition was MEL capable. Crew contacted dispatch as suggested who confirmed this status. MEL directs the door be restrained by holding door when opening from outside and using the door assist handle to lower the door from inside. The crew; admirably; posted a sign on the outside of the cabin door to hopefully avoid any injury or damage. This creates several potential situation which could cause serious injury to personnel and or damage to the aircraft. The door weighs more than 100 pounds and if not successfully restrained will hit the ground with significant velocity. This could result in: 1. Damage to the door when it impacts the skeg. 2. Injury to personnel when the door strikes them.3. With contaminated ramp surfaces the crew member may not be able to successfully restrain the door resulting in damage and/or injury.4. A new crew not aware of this malfunction and taking necessary precautions to avoid injury or damage.5. A crew member lowering the door from the inside is in an awkward position physiologically and could easily receive an occupational injury or even be ejected from the aircraft. If the door struts cannot adequately restrain the door opening process; it should not be MEL capable. In addition; a placard should be displayed on the aircraft exterior showing this condition to protect crews and ground personnel not familiar with this discrepancy from injury or damage.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: G200 flight crew reports discovering that the main cabin door struts are not functioning when the door is opened and falls straight to the ramp. Maintenance advises that this is a deferrable situation which the crew finds difficult to believe citing the possibility of serious injury.

Narrative: Flight crew noticed cabin door free falling to ground during preflight without restraint. Crew contacted Maintenance Control who advised condition was MEL capable. Crew contacted Dispatch as suggested who confirmed this status. MEL directs the door be restrained by holding door when opening from outside and using the door assist handle to lower the door from inside. The crew; admirably; posted a sign on the outside of the cabin door to hopefully avoid any injury or damage. This creates several potential situation which could cause serious injury to personnel and or damage to the aircraft. The door weighs more than 100 pounds and if not successfully restrained will hit the ground with significant velocity. This could result in: 1. Damage to the door when it impacts the skeg. 2. Injury to personnel when the door strikes them.3. With contaminated ramp surfaces the crew member may not be able to successfully restrain the door resulting in damage and/or injury.4. A new crew not aware of this malfunction and taking necessary precautions to avoid injury or damage.5. A crew member lowering the door from the inside is in an awkward position physiologically and could easily receive an occupational injury or even be ejected from the aircraft. If the door struts cannot adequately restrain the door opening process; it should not be MEL capable. In addition; a placard should be displayed on the aircraft exterior showing this condition to protect crews and ground personnel not familiar with this discrepancy from injury or damage.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.