Originally Posted by
Airsupport
there have been several crj takeoff aborts reported for the oxygen service panel door being left open. the smart guys at bombardier put that door right infront of the f.o.'s pitot static tube. at about 80 kts all the bells and whistles go off as the captains airspeed says 80 while the fo's fluctuates between 0 and 80.
Comair has installed a screw to hold that service panel shut. Opening it is now a MX function. I dunno if that is for aborts, or because it is in the RVSM critical zone. The screws went in about the same time RVSM was kicked off.
As far as taking off with open panels...
3 CEOs ago, Comair had a (rumored) incident in CVG where a crew was alerted to an open panel during taxi-out. Rather than stop and close it, they elected to continue to their destination. This action was passed along by concourse C ramp tower, and (rumor has it) the pilots were disciplined for their lack of judgement.
What is known is that a memo came out as a result and there is now a specific instruction to return to the gate if a panel is open, or even suspected to be open.
Mesa? Maybe they just close it at the next stop. If it's still attached to the plane.