Might be a former military version of the aircraft. From the pics I found,
the military versions had this 'hatch/patch' located here.


"Andrew B" wrote in message
om...
Visited Manchester (EGCC) on Thursday 18th and the attached ATR42 landed.
I am just a little puzzled by the area at the front that looks like a
large
patch, I tried a Google without success so does anyone know what is this
for?
I have seen similar areas on other ATR42 aircraft and it seems to be a
standard feature, it's just that it stands out on this one.

I will post some other shots taken that day when I have finished
sorting them out.

--
Andrew B (Cheshire, England)

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible."
(Lord Kelvin, president Royal Society, 1895.)