Narrative:

Crew swapped aircraft in phl picking up aircraft. First officer arrived at aircraft first attempted APU start-up which was unsuccessful. Captain arrived a few mins later and attempted APU start which was unsuccessful. Crew checked logbook for any prior problems, which we found none. Captain noted battery power low and possibly why APU did not start. Called for ground power and did not attempt 3RD start of APU. With ground power engines were started and proceeded to eri, PA. Upon arrival outbound crew did not meet aircraft so there was no need for APU start. Notified outbound crew at hotel that may have trouble starting APU. No write-up was made because crew did not determine APU inoperative.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ACR PIC IGNORES THE POSSIBILITY OF APU BEING INOP ON HIS MDT ACFT AND FAILS TO NOTE SAME IN ACFT LOGBOOK UPON ARR AT DEST ARPT.

Narrative: CREW SWAPPED ACFT IN PHL PICKING UP ACFT. FO ARRIVED AT ACFT FIRST ATTEMPTED APU START-UP WHICH WAS UNSUCCESSFUL. CAPT ARRIVED A FEW MINS LATER AND ATTEMPTED APU START WHICH WAS UNSUCCESSFUL. CREW CHKED LOGBOOK FOR ANY PRIOR PROBS, WHICH WE FOUND NONE. CAPT NOTED BATTERY PWR LOW AND POSSIBLY WHY APU DID NOT START. CALLED FOR GND PWR AND DID NOT ATTEMPT 3RD START OF APU. WITH GND PWR ENGS WERE STARTED AND PROCEEDED TO ERI, PA. UPON ARR OUTBOUND CREW DID NOT MEET ACFT SO THERE WAS NO NEED FOR APU START. NOTIFIED OUTBOUND CREW AT HOTEL THAT MAY HAVE TROUBLE STARTING APU. NO WRITE-UP WAS MADE BECAUSE CREW DID NOT DETERMINE APU INOP.

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.