Flight crew of medium large transport had annunciator and master caution light on takeoff roll. At 1...

Attributes
ACN	194262
Time
Date	199111
Day	Sun
Local Time Of Day	0601 To 1200
Place
Locale Reference	airport : dca
State Reference	DC
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Make Model Name	Medium Large Transport, Low Wing, 2 Turbojet Eng
Flight Phase	climbout : takeoff other
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Qualification	pilot : instrument pilot : flight engineer pilot : commercial pilot : atp
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 150 flight time total : 10000 flight time type : 7000
ASRS Report	194262
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : first officer
Qualification	pilot : atp pilot : instrument pilot : commercial
Events
Anomaly	aircraft equipment problem : less severe other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	flight crew : rejected takeoff
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Aircraft
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

On takeoff roll at washington national (WX 1000 overcast 2 mi r-f) at 100 KTS, annunciator and master caution came on showing forward entry door open. Aborted takeoff with no incident. Returned to gate and maintenance discovered that forward entry door was not locking properly and the door handle had actually popped out of locked position during takeoff roll. It was at this point that I recalled recent simulator session where we had been specifically instructed not to abort for a master caution only. This time it was incident free and we had stopped with at least 4000 ft remaining. We knew that the door was difficult to close so we chose to stop. Then because of recent FAA actions, as related to aborts, I started second guessing myself. What did our operations manual say? What did training section say, what did the company say? My final analysis! It really doesn't matter what their opinions were. We had been there, we made the best judgement decision based on the circumstances we had been given. I was the final authority and made my best call.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLC OF MLG HAD ANNUNCIATOR AND MASTER CAUTION LIGHT ON TKOF ROLL. AT 100 KTS CAPT ABORTED TKOF WITH 4000 FT OF RWY LEFT AFTER STOPPING.

Narrative: ON TKOF ROLL AT WASHINGTON NATL (WX 1000 OVCST 2 MI R-F) AT 100 KTS, ANNUNCIATOR AND MASTER CAUTION CAME ON SHOWING FORWARD ENTRY DOOR OPEN. ABORTED TKOF WITH NO INCIDENT. RETURNED TO GATE AND MAINT DISCOVERED THAT FORWARD ENTRY DOOR WAS NOT LOCKING PROPERLY AND THE DOOR HANDLE HAD ACTUALLY POPPED OUT OF LOCKED POS DURING TKOF ROLL. IT WAS AT THIS POINT THAT I RECALLED RECENT SIMULATOR SESSION WHERE WE HAD BEEN SPECIFICALLY INSTRUCTED NOT TO ABORT FOR A MASTER CAUTION ONLY. THIS TIME IT WAS INCIDENT FREE AND WE HAD STOPPED WITH AT LEAST 4000 FT REMAINING. WE KNEW THAT THE DOOR WAS DIFFICULT TO CLOSE SO WE CHOSE TO STOP. THEN BECAUSE OF RECENT FAA ACTIONS, AS RELATED TO ABORTS, I STARTED SECOND GUESSING MYSELF. WHAT DID OUR OPS MANUAL SAY? WHAT DID TRAINING SECTION SAY, WHAT DID THE COMPANY SAY? MY FINAL ANALYSIS! IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER WHAT THEIR OPINIONS WERE. WE HAD BEEN THERE, WE MADE THE BEST JUDGEMENT DECISION BASED ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES WE HAD BEEN GIVEN. I WAS THE FINAL AUTHORITY AND MADE MY BEST CALL.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.

Flight crew of medium large transport had annunciator and master caution light on takeoff roll. At 100 KTS captain aborted takeoff with 4000 ft of runway left after stopping.