Narrative:

The main entrance door on [one of our CE560s] operates abnormally; and is a serious emergency egress hazard in the event of pilot incapacitation if a passenger should be required to operate the door handle after an emergency landing. After blocking in from a revenue flight; the main entrance cabin door was extremely difficult to open. It took at least 10 seconds of unusually firm downward pressure on the door handle for the seal to release; and the handle seemed to bend slightly in the process. Immediately before the door pressure was relieved; I became concerned that I might damage the door or handle if I continued to apply downward pressure; or that ground handler assistance from outside the aircraft might be required to successfully open the door. The PIC wrote the door up as a maintenance squawk at my request. This was the 9th write up for the same problem. Prior to departing on our previous ferry leg; which was our first flight for the day; I had properly purged all moisture from the main entrance door seal and continued purging for an additional 90 seconds to make certain that only dry air was being expelled before closing the door. Upon arrival [after the ferry flight] the PIC opened the main cabin door but did not mention having any problem with it. When we arrived [after the revenue flight] I opened the door and encountered the difficulty. Two crews had documented the need for assistance from ground personnel outside the aircraft to open the main entrance door after landing in previous write ups. On one of those occasions; I was the assigned sic. As I observed the PIC apply pressure to the handle before abandoning the effort to get the needed help from outside the aircraft I could see the obvious severe strain applied to the handle and door. Is it possible that the problem may be associated with the plunger inside the door frame that activates the airflow to the door seal? It seems loose inside the door frame when depressed to purge the seal. Is there any chance it misaligns with the mechanical bayonet that activates the plunger when the door is closed in such a way as to prohibit normal release of pressure when the crew attempts to open the door in the normal way? I mentioned this to the PIC who performed the write [earlier]. He stated that he had passed this info along to the maintenance controller.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A CE-560 Captain reported the main cabin entry door was very difficult to operate on the ground and could impede an evacuation.

Narrative: The main entrance door on [one of our CE560s] operates abnormally; and is a serious emergency egress hazard in the event of pilot incapacitation if a passenger should be required to operate the door handle after an emergency landing. After blocking in from a revenue flight; the main entrance cabin door was extremely difficult to open. It took at least 10 seconds of unusually firm downward pressure on the door handle for the seal to release; and the handle seemed to bend slightly in the process. Immediately before the door pressure was relieved; I became concerned that I might damage the door or handle if I continued to apply downward pressure; or that ground handler assistance from outside the aircraft might be required to successfully open the door. The PIC wrote the door up as a maintenance squawk at my request. This was the 9th write up for the same problem. Prior to departing on our previous ferry leg; which was our first flight for the day; I had properly purged all moisture from the main entrance door seal and continued purging for an additional 90 seconds to make certain that only dry air was being expelled before closing the door. Upon arrival [after the ferry flight] the PIC opened the main cabin door but did not mention having any problem with it. When we arrived [after the revenue flight] I opened the door and encountered the difficulty. Two crews had documented the need for assistance from ground personnel outside the aircraft to open the main entrance door after landing in previous write ups. On one of those occasions; I was the assigned SIC. As I observed the PIC apply pressure to the handle before abandoning the effort to get the needed help from outside the aircraft I could see the obvious severe strain applied to the handle and door. Is it possible that the problem may be associated with the plunger inside the door frame that activates the airflow to the door seal? It seems loose inside the door frame when depressed to purge the seal. Is there any chance it misaligns with the mechanical bayonet that activates the plunger when the door is closed in such a way as to prohibit normal release of pressure when the crew attempts to open the door in the normal way? I mentioned this to the PIC who performed the write [earlier]. He stated that he had passed this info along to the Maintenance Controller.

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.