Gulfstream G200 (IAI 1126 Galaxy)
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Workload
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
We had one passenger on the airplane conducting a Part 135 trip. We took off and at approximately 500-600 FT AGL upon landing gear retraction we received an amber 'Cabin Door' CAS message. We were handed off to Departure Control and continued our climb to 3;000 FT as assigned in our initial clearance. We informed Departure that we needed to return due to a pressurization issue. We also informed them that we were approximately 500 LBS above our maximum landing weight and would require vectors to burn fuel prior to accepting the ILS. At that point the flying pilot took control of the radios and flew the aircraft while I contact a G200 ACP on the flight phone to inform him of our situation. Once we burned off enough fuel to get below maximum landing weight we accepted and flew the ILS. The approach was uneventful. Upon landing and consultation with Maintenance; we were told to MEL the auto-pressurization system using MEL 52-6. We also added more fuel to the aircraft and were re-released by dispatch. Approximately 50 minutes later we taxied out for takeoff again. The flight was then conducted uneventfully to our destination. We did have to operate the pressurization system in the manual mode due to the MEL.I don't believe we could have done anything different to prevent this; but I will say that this MEL allowing the aircraft to be flown in the manual pressurization mode creates an extremely high workload environment for the crew. It basically requires the undivided attention of the pilot operating it; which leaves the flying pilot essentially as a single pilot. It creates an unsafe environment; especially if you are dealing with weather and having to fly an instrument approach on the descent at your destination.
G200 First Officer experiences a Cabin Door CAS message shortly after takeoff and the crew elects to return to the departure airport. The problem is diagnosed as a faulty pressurization controller which is deferred requiring the crew to manually control the pressurization.