A flight crew elected to perform an air turnback to their departure station after noticing a 'fuelin...

Narrative:

After fueling the aircraft both pilots conducted separate visual inspections of the aircraft. All doors appeared to be closed. After leveling off at 17;000 ft the 'fueling' light illuminated on the master warning panel along with the master caution chime. While the pilot not flying was checking the QRH for the indicated caution; a quick shudder of the airplane was felt. Per the checklist and what was felt in flight; we elected to return to our departure airport. Upon landing; we could see that the fueling panel door came off the aircraft in flight.a mod was completed on this aircraft which makes the fueling door and latches sturdier. Unfortunately; it is also possible for the panel latches to catch between the frame and the aircraft skin; which provides very little strength. When the fueler closed the fueling panel; two of the latches were not secured behind the frame. The panel appeared closed visually but two of the latches did not catch where they were supposed to. A flight crew member should always double check the security of panels/doors by closing it themselves. A visual inspection can be misleading.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A flight crew elected to perform an air turnback to their departure station after noticing a 'Fueling' light had illuminated on their Master Warning Panel along with a Master Caution chime and a quick shudder of their Dassault Falcon-50 aircraft.

Narrative: After fueling the aircraft both pilots conducted separate visual inspections of the aircraft. All doors appeared to be closed. After leveling off at 17;000 FT the 'Fueling' light illuminated on the Master Warning Panel along with the Master Caution chime. While the pilot not flying was checking the QRH for the indicated caution; a quick shudder of the airplane was felt. Per the checklist and what was felt in flight; we elected to return to our departure airport. Upon landing; we could see that the fueling panel door came off the aircraft in flight.A mod was completed on this aircraft which makes the fueling door and latches sturdier. Unfortunately; it is also possible for the panel latches to catch between the frame and the aircraft skin; which provides very little strength. When the fueler closed the fueling panel; two of the latches were not secured behind the frame. The panel appeared closed visually but two of the latches did not catch where they were supposed to. A flight crew member should always double check the security of panels/doors by closing it themselves. A visual inspection can be misleading.

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.

Attributes
ACN	971303
Time
Date	201109
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Falcon 50
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Cruise
Component
Aircraft Component	Wing Fueling Panel
Person 1
Function	Captain Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

A flight crew elected to perform an air turnback to their departure station after noticing a 'fueling' light had illuminated on their master warning panel along with a master caution chime and a quick shudder of their dassault falcon-50 aircraft.