A DC10-10 FREIGHTER WAS FOUND 3 HRS AFTER ARR TO HAVE A DAMAGED STABILIZER COMPARTMENT ACCESS DOOR DAMAGED AND HANGING OPEN. CAUSE UNKNOWN.

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ON NOV/YY/98 MY CREW AND I FLEW ACFT FROM OAK TO EWR. WE DEPARTED OAK AT XA30 AND ARRIVED IN EWR AT XF41; A DAYTIME FLT. APPROX 3 HRS AFTER BLOCK-IN; I WAS NOTIFIED BY MAINT CTL THAT OUR ACFT WAS FOUND TO HAVE AN ACCESS DOOR ON THE BOTTOM SIDE OF THE TAILCONE OPEN AND DAMAGED. THEY ASKED IF I WAS AWARE OF IT AND/OR DID I KNOW HOW IT OCCURRED. MY ANSWERS TO BOTH OF THESE QUESTIONS WERE NO. THIS WAS A COMPLETELY UNEVENTFUL FLT FROM BLOCK-OUT TO BLOCK-IN WITH NOTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY HAPPENING. THE SO TOLD ME THAT THE DOOR APPEARED CLOSED AND SECURED WHEN HE DID HIS WALKAROUND. THE FO FLEW THE ENTIRE LEG; INCLUDING TKOF AND LNDG. THE TAXI OUT AND TKOF AT OAK WERE NORMAL; WX VFR AND WINDS LIGHT FROM AFTER TKOF TO ARR INTO THE EWR AREA; EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL AND UNEVENTFUL. IT WAS DAYTIME AND THERE WERE OTHER ACFT AROUND; BUT NO ONE SAID ANYTHING TO US ABOUT AN OPEN DOOR HANGING OUT BELOW THE TAIL. WHEN WE WENT OUT TO FLY THE NEXT NIGHT; ACFT WAS STILL ON THE EWR RAMP. ALL 3 OF US WALKED OVER TO VIEW THE TAIL. THE ACCESS DOOR HAD BEEN REPLACED AND THERE WAS SOME DAMAGE DIRECTLY BEHIND THE DOOR; BUT NO PAINT HAD BEEN SCRAPED OFF. A REPRESENTATIVE FROM STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING WALKED UP AND TOLD US HE HAD BEEN BROUGHT UP TO CHK THE ACFT. HE STATED THAT A TAIL STRIKE WAS IMPOSSIBLE; BECAUSE THE DAMAGED AREA WAS TOO FAR AFT. IF A TAIL STRIKE HAD OCCURRED; THE DAMAGED AREA WOULD HAVE BEEN WELL FORWARD OF THIS ACCESS DOOR. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR STATED THE ACFT WAS A DC10-10 FREIGHTER AND THE ACFT EXHIBITED NO ABNORMAL VIBRATIONS OR NOISE INFLT. THE RPTR SAID NO WORK WAS ACCOMPLISHED AT THE DEP STATION THAT REQUIRED ACCESS TO THE STABILIZER COMPARTMENT. THE RPTR SAID THE DOOR WAS LOCATED TOO FAR AFT TO HAVE SUSTAINED TAIL STRIKE DAMAGE.