B737 Captain and Flight Attendant reported the aft entry door was malfunctioning and had moved from the locked position at some point in the flight. The flight safely diverted and Maintenance took the aircraft out of service.
Synopsis
B737 Captain and Flight Attendant reported the aft entry door was malfunctioning and had moved from the locked position at some point in the flight. The flight safely diverted and Maintenance took the aircraft out of service.
Narrative
After leveling off in cruise at FL350; I reached up to turn the 'Fasten Seatbelt' sign off. At that time; I noticed that the 'AFT Entry' door light on the overhead panel had illuminated. It was not on when climbing through 10k feet when doing the 'After Takeoff' flow and checklist. The 'Master Caution Doors' light was not illuminated. I reviewed the QRH which referred to whether the door handle would stay down or not. I called the aft cabin FA. The door in question was 2L. The handle had popped up about 3 inches. The FA pushed the handle down; which caused the 'Aft Entry' door light to extinguish but if the FA let go of the handle; it popped back up about 3 inches and the light came back on. The cabin pressure was normal and there was no evidence of an air leak. The QRH directed us to land at the nearest suitable airport. I contacted Maintenance Control and Dispatch. Maintenance Control agreed that a divert was appropriate. At that time; we were equidistant from ZZZ and ZZZ1 and Dispatch agreed that ZZZ1 was the best choice for a divert so we diverted to ZZZ1 WITHOUT declaring an emergency. In ZZZ1; after Maintenance Control had the opportunity to look at the door; it was determined that the door needed maintenance. So; we swapped into a spare; had 3 of our FAs swapped out due to timing out; and then departed for ZZZ2. The flight to ZZZ2 was completed without further incident albeit about 4:15 late. We had no passenger issues throughout the event either. All of the ZZZ1 staff (gate agents; Operations; and maintenance personnel) were fantastic to work with.
Second reporter narrative
Lead Flight Attendant (FA) called for door arming prior to push. I; Person A; [and] Person B; armed the 2R door and cross-checked 2L. Person C armed 2L and cross-checked 2R. Both doors were closed; armed; and cross-checked.We taxi; take off; level off; set up for the service - approximately 25 minutes into the flight the Captain calls to the back and Person C picks up the phone and asked if the door is closed; Person C pressed on the handle and the handle sprung up about 3 inches.Captain had the flight divert to ZZZ1 to have Maintenance check on it. Upon descent into ZZZ1; door handle kept rising. Maintenance came on asked when did we get the phone call; we mentioned in flight and he confirmed that it was after 10;000 feet and we agreed. Passengers were asked to deplane; Maintenance took the aircraft out of service.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.