Narrative:

Some discrepancies written in the aircraft logbook, which occurred in-flight and on preflight, have raised some concern as to whether the aircraft was airworthy for flight. I feel that system training has been shortened too much. We flight engineer's are not taught enough about troubleshooting. With lack of system knowledge and schematics, how can we troubleshoot to help maintenance solve the problem. A separate problem -- the passenger aircraft converted to cargo. The manufacturer of the stc needs better engineering and FAA should not approve unsafe conditions, such as installing a cargo door lock pin on the rear door lock instead of front lock, for safety.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: DC8 SO DOES NOT THINK ACR TRAINING OR FLT MANUALS ARE ADEQUATE. HE ALSO DOES NOT APPROVE OF THE FAA GRANTED STC FOR THE CARGO DOOR CONVERSION.

Narrative: SOME DISCREPANCIES WRITTEN IN THE ACFT LOGBOOK, WHICH OCCURRED INFLT AND ON PREFLT, HAVE RAISED SOME CONCERN AS TO WHETHER THE ACFT WAS AIRWORTHY FOR FLT. I FEEL THAT SYS TRAINING HAS BEEN SHORTENED TOO MUCH. WE FE'S ARE NOT TAUGHT ENOUGH ABOUT TROUBLESHOOTING. WITH LACK OF SYS KNOWLEDGE AND SCHEMATICS, HOW CAN WE TROUBLESHOOT TO HELP MAINT SOLVE THE PROB. A SEPARATE PROB -- THE PAX ACFT CONVERTED TO CARGO. THE MANUFACTURER OF THE STC NEEDS BETTER ENGINEERING AND FAA SHOULD NOT APPROVE UNSAFE CONDITIONS, SUCH AS INSTALLING A CARGO DOOR LOCK PIN ON THE REAR DOOR LOCK INSTEAD OF FRONT LOCK, FOR SAFETY.

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.