What is the proper action if a door fails to close or seal during preflight?

• A. Notify crew in charge and do not depart; follow QRH/standard operating procedures for door malfunctions.
• B. Retry a few times and depart.
• C. Ignore and depart.
• D. Call maintenance after flight.

Answer: (A)

A door that won’t close or seal during preflight is a safety-critical fault that must be handled before the aircraft leaves the ground. Doors must be securely closed and sealed to maintain cabin pressurization and ensure safe egress in an emergency. Because of this, the correct action is to inform the person in charge (PIC/crew) and do not depart, then follow the QRH and standard procedures for door malfunctions. The QRH provides the approved steps to troubleshoot or isolate the issue on the ground and, if unresolved, to ground the flight and arrange maintenance. Attempting to retry and depart, ignoring the fault, or planning maintenance after flight would risk a pressurization or door failure in flight and is not acceptable.