Flight Crew Commercial
Situational Awareness
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Landed As Precaution; Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport
Aircraft; Human Factors
After takeoff; as I was climbing through 8000 ft; I had just contacted ATC and had just completed reading back the clearance. The 'CABIN DOOR' light came on. I immediately called ATC back to let them know of the issue and that I was returning to trouble shoot the problem. As I was descending; I chose to depressurize the cabin and the light immediately went out. I landed; inspected the door and contacted Dispatch. I was unable to duplicate the issue and confirmed that the locks were engaged. Dispatch informed me that there was no need to write the issue up if I could not duplicate the issue. I departed 15 minutes later and had no further issue as I proceeded with the flight. Upon arrival; maintenance asked me about the issue and I explained the events. I was then informed by Maintenance personnel that I needed to write the issue up for them to keep track of issue and to inspect the aircraft. It has been brought to my attention that I was misled by both Dispatch and Maintenance on the proper procedures for writing up the maintenance problem. Dispatch should never get involved in maintenance issues and should always direct issues to maintenance personnel. This would give pilots the correct information and not feel pressured to stay on schedule; which may lead to a compromising safety and/or FAA violations.
SA-227AC Captain reported that on the advice of Dispatch he failed to log a problem with a cabin door.