Ground crew reported being unable to close a cargo door after several attempts and reported concerns...

Narrative:

Today I was working [on a] flight going to ZZZ. After finishing [up on] loading the bags; I went to close the cargo door which my agent already [had done]. I asked the captain to release the brake to get an on time departure to which he said no. I asked him why via headset; to which he replied [that] the door was showing open.I proceeded to the back and recycled the door. After the third time; I told the captain to call maintenance. [The] captain's response was that maintenance knows about it and was told that the ramp may not know how to properly close the aircraft. I do these flights all day. The supervisor came out to the gate and was able to close the door by a way that was not procedure; which was closing the vent door first [and] then the latch arm. I have attached the company procedure to this report which indicates; latch arm closed and flush with aircraft door; then pull the vent close. This is a potential danger of a malfunction of the cargo door that could be catastrophic once aircraft is in the air.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Ground crew reported being unable to close a cargo door after several attempts and reported concerns about the procedure used by the Supervisor to close the door.

Narrative: Today I was working [on a] flight going to ZZZ. After finishing [up on] loading the bags; I went to close the cargo door which my Agent already [had done]. I asked the Captain to release the brake to get an on time departure to which he said no. I asked him why via headset; to which he replied [that] the door was showing open.I proceeded to the back and recycled the door. After the third time; I told the Captain to call Maintenance. [The] Captain's response was that Maintenance knows about it and was told that the Ramp may not know how to properly close the aircraft. I do these flights all day. The Supervisor came out to the gate and was able to close the door by a way that was not procedure; which was closing the vent door first [and] then the latch arm. I have attached the Company procedure to this report which indicates; latch arm closed and flush with aircraft door; then pull the vent close. This is a potential danger of a malfunction of the cargo door that could be catastrophic once aircraft is in the air.

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.

Attributes
ACN	1713737
Time
Date	201912
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Commercial Fixed Wing
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Cargo Door
Person 1
Function	Ramp
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Ground crew reported being unable to close a cargo door after several attempts and reported concerns about the procedure used by the supervisor to close the door.