Narrative:

Flight began with me retrieving the can from maintenance. After reviewing the can I noted that they had done post and service checks. It's important to note that earlier in the morning I had meled the door warning light as it had illuminated in flight on [a previous] flight. As required by the MEL I visually inspected the doors to make sure that they were closed. The passenger safety briefing; before start; and before takeoff flows and checklists were all completed without issue. The first officer was the pilot flying so after receiving takeoff clearance we exchanged controls and departed. The first part of the initial climb was normal then the passenger sitting nearest the emergency exit informed us that the door had come open. After 1000 ft AGL I looked back to see what had occurred and verified that the door had come open and noted that the passenger holding the door closed. Concerned for their safety I told to the passenger to let go of the door. While this occurred we were handed off to departure and I informed him of the situation and that we would be returning to [departure airport]. He told us to turn to a heading of 040 VFR at or below 2000 ft. It was at this point that we exchanged flight controls and I pulled out the QRH to reference the abnormal procedure. While the first officer looked up procedure I brought the power to the in range setting. Doing so allowed us to work the checklist and perform the before landing flow and checklist as well as reducing the wind noise so we could hear the radio. ATC instructed us to turn towards the airport and to keep our speed up. I complied with turning toward the airport but informed them we were unable to keep the speed up as we were getting ready to land. After landing; clearing the runway; and completing the after landing flow and checklist. I informed the first officer (first officer) that I wanted to talk to the passengers to make sure everyone was alright and did. Everyone was safe and uninjured. The rest of the taxi and shut down went normally.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C402 flight crew reported returning to departure airport after a passenger reported the emergency exit door had opened.

Narrative: Flight began with me retrieving the can from maintenance. After reviewing the can I noted that they had done Post and Service checks. It's important to note that earlier in the morning I had MELed the Door warning light as it had illuminated in flight on [a previous] flight. As required by the MEL I visually inspected the doors to make sure that they were closed. The passenger safety briefing; before start; and before takeoff flows and checklists were all completed without issue. The first officer was the pilot flying so after receiving takeoff clearance we exchanged controls and departed. The first part of the initial climb was normal then the passenger sitting nearest the emergency exit informed us that the door had come open. After 1000 FT AGL I looked back to see what had occurred and verified that the door had come open and noted that the passenger holding the door closed. Concerned for their safety I told to the passenger to let go of the door. While this occurred we were handed off to Departure and I informed him of the situation and that we would be returning to [departure airport]. He told us to turn to a heading of 040 VFR at or below 2000 FT. It was at this point that we exchanged flight controls and I pulled out the QRH to reference the abnormal procedure. While the first officer looked up procedure I brought the power to the in range setting. Doing so allowed us to work the checklist and perform the before landing flow and checklist as well as reducing the wind noise so we could hear the radio. ATC instructed us to turn towards the airport and to keep our speed up. I complied with turning toward the airport but informed them we were unable to keep the speed up as we were getting ready to land. After landing; clearing the runway; and completing the after landing flow and checklist. I informed the First Officer (FO) that I wanted to talk to the passengers to make sure everyone was alright and did. Everyone was safe and uninjured. The rest of the taxi and shut down went normally.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.