Date: 201206
Local time of day: 1201-1800
Location: ZZZ.TRACON, US
Flight conditions: VMC
Light: Daylight
Aircraft: Regional Jet 200 ER/LR (CRJ200)
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Climb; Initial Climb
Airspace: Class B ZZZ
ATC / advisory: TRACON ZZZ
Aircraft component: Exterior Pax/Crew Door
Component problem: Malfunctioning
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Pilot Flying; Captain
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP)
Human factors: Situational Awareness; Training / Qualification
Second reporter function: Pilot Not Flying; First Officer
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Detector: Person Flight Attendant; Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Result: Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; General Declared Emergency; General Maintenance Action
Contributing factors: Aircraft
Primary problem: Aircraft

Narrative: I was Pilot Flying and the First Officer was Pilot Monitoring.  Weather was VFR with winds 03007G15KT.  Soon after climbout I felt my ears pop and immediately looked at the EICAS and noted no differential pressure and a cabin climb of 1900 fpm.  The First Officer noted the same thing at the same time.  There were no EICAS indications relating to doors or pressurization.  I instructed the First Officer to inform ATC that we were not pressurizing and to give us a level off with vectors to stay in the area.  ATC gave us a heading and a level off at 4000 MSL.  Just after we noted that the aircraft was not pressurizing; the Flight Attendant called on the interphone and told the First Officer that she could see daylight through the Main Passenger Door and there was a lot of wind noise.  The main passenger door was indicated green for the entire flight.  I instructed the PM to get the QRH and we ran the Unpressurized Flight Checklist in the Abnormal section.  While being vectored I made a PA to the passengers that we would be returning for a precautionary landing.  I also gave the Dispatcher a call and informed her of our situation and my intent to stay at 4000 feet and return.  She agreed and had me talk to Maintenance Control just to let them know what was going on.  We took off at around 49;000 lbs and would have to land at about 48;000 lbs. I made the decision to declare the emergency with ATC after conferring with the First Officer.  We wanted to land as soon as possible since we were unsure of the door condition.  I had the First Officer run the Unpressurized Landing Checklist and ATC vectored us to a visual approach.  We landed at 48;000 lbs with less than 200 fpm descent.  After clearing the runway we canceled the emergency and taxied to the gate.  Once parked with the engines shut down; the First Officer and I inspected the door to see that the pressurization flap above the outside handle was not in place and we could see daylight.  The Flight Attendant was unable to open the main door at the gate and we required maintenance personnel on the outside to work on the door to get it open.  The threat in this case was the unknown main passenger door condition.  We knew that the Flight Attendant could see daylight and we could not pressurize; however we had no other indication of the integrity of the rest of the door.  The other threat was the loud wind noise near the Flight Attendant which made communication with her difficult but not impossible.  She asked me to repeat my instructions a couple of times due to the loud noise. Having now seen from the inside what it looks like when the pressurization flap is not in place; it would be good if crews; especially Flight Attendants were told about this possibility on phase IV doors.  All we knew is that she could see light; but in hindsight; if we had known that it was only the flap; then we would have been more confident in the Green door indication on the synoptic page.  Had we known that the door integrity was good and all the latches were closed then we may have decided to burn off the extra 1000 lbs of fuel to land at 47;000lbs.  Ultimately we made the right decision with the information we had; by declaring the emergency and conducting the overweight landing.

Callback: Captain described the difference between Phase III and Phase IV doors and stated that this was the first failure of this nature that he had heard of.  Maintenance believed that a mechanical linkage failure caused the fault but the aircraft had to be ferried for repairs.

Second narrative: During initial climb out; just prior to acceleration altitude; and just after Tower passed us off to departure; I noticed my ears equalizing at a much higher rate than normal.  I referenced the cabin altitude and rate of climb and the Captain and I realized that the aircraft was not pressurizing.  At acceleration altitude; as the Captain (PF) began to level off and accelerate; we noticed a lot of wind noise coming from the cabin.  The Flight Attendant immediately called; stating that she didn't think the door was latched properly and that she could see daylight through part of the door.  It was difficult to communicate with her as a result of the high wind noise from the door.  The Captain reduced the aircraft vertical speed and I informed ATC that we were experiencing a pressurization issue and needed an intermediate level-off.  There were no EICAS messages associated with the main passenger door.  After running appropriate checklists and communicating with operations/company/maintenance control; the Captain opted to declare an emergency and return immediately to land.  We briefed/executed procedures for an unpressurized landing as well as an overweight landing.  The approach/landing was uneventful.  The emergency was terminated upon clearing the runway.  During taxi-in I communicated to the flight attendant that she was not to open the passenger door upon arrival at the gate so the Captain and I could assess the state of the door.  After our inspection; the flight attendant attempted to open the door.  It was jammed.  We had to wait for maintenance to come and perform work on the door before it could be opened.


Synopsis: CRJ200 Flight Crew discovers that their aircraft is not pressurizing shortly after takeoff.  A call from the Flight Attendant indicates that the door may not be properly latched although there are no indications on the EICAS and the Captain elects to return to the departure airport.