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An A300 flight crew declared an emergency and returned to their departure airport when they received an ECAM cargo door warning and pressurization appeared compromised. Inspection after landing showed the door was closed but vents and latches were not properly stowed and/or seated.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 937979 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201103 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0001-0600 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.ARTCC |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Night |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | A300 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Initial Climb |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Cargo Door |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Captain Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 125 Flight Crew Total 3475 Flight Crew Type 475 |
| Person 2 | |
| Function | Pilot Not Flying First Officer |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 130 Flight Crew Total 11000 Flight Crew Type 1400 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
During our initial climb out we got a forward lower cargo door unlocked or unsafe indication on the ECAM. After leveling off at 14;000 ft the first officer noted we had a cabin climb rate of approximately 600 FPM; which we considered excessive. I declared an emergency since ATC did not initially clear us below 10;000 ft. I also slowed the aircraft to 'green dot' to reduce any aerodynamic stresses on the door. We then ran all ECAM and checklist items and returned to the airport without incident. After taxiing in and parking the aircraft we got out to visually inspect the door. After inspection; with maintenance; we noticed the forward lower cargo door latch; vent door and mechanical door lock indicators were all in the unlatched (open) or unsafe position.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: An A300 flight crew declared an emergency and returned to their departure airport when they received an ECAM cargo door warning and pressurization appeared compromised. Inspection after landing showed the door was closed but vents and latches were not properly stowed and/or seated.
Narrative: During our initial climb out we got a Forward Lower Cargo Door unlocked or unsafe indication on the ECAM. After leveling off at 14;000 FT the First Officer noted we had a cabin climb rate of approximately 600 FPM; which we considered excessive. I declared an emergency since ATC did not initially clear us below 10;000 FT. I also slowed the aircraft to 'green dot' to reduce any aerodynamic stresses on the door. We then ran all ECAM and checklist items and returned to the airport without incident. After taxiing in and parking the aircraft we got out to visually inspect the door. After inspection; with Maintenance; we noticed the Forward Lower Cargo Door latch; vent door and mechanical door lock indicators were all in the UNLATCHED (OPEN) or unsafe position.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.