Narrative:

Approaching the gate after a normal landing and taxi-in; we were signaled to hold off the gate by ramp personnel while wing walkers moved into position. The aircraft was stopped for approximately 30 seconds about 50 feet from the parking spot. After the wing walkers moved into position; I released the parking brake and began moving toward the gate. As the aircraft was moving; I heard the master warning chime and the 'door' aural message. Additionally I could see the passenger door opening out of the corner of my eye. I immediately stopped the aircraft and set the parking brake. The aircraft came to a complete stop before the door reached the ground. The first officer (first officer) and I established communication with the flight attendant (flight attendant). The flight attendant stated that she thought we were at the gate and had heard the seatbelt chime. I asked her to close the door and verified that all passengers were seated. With the door closed; passenger seated and under guidance from the wing walkers; we taxied the rest of the way to the gate and completed a normal shutdown. The event was caused by a lack of situational awareness of the flight attendant. As the PIC; I failed to make an announcement that we had not arrived at the gate even though the aircraft was stopped. The lack of available outside reference to the flight attendant [also] contributed to a lack of situational awareness. As the PIC; I should have announced that we had not reached the gate. Additionally; providing a window through which the area outside the main cabin door can be viewed would have likely prevented this from happening.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ-200 pilot reported the flight attendant opened the main cabin door during a brief off-gate stop; thinking the aircraft had reached the arrival gate.

Narrative: Approaching the gate after a normal landing and taxi-in; we were signaled to hold off the gate by ramp personnel while wing walkers moved into position. The aircraft was stopped for approximately 30 seconds about 50 feet from the parking spot. After the wing walkers moved into position; I released the parking brake and began moving toward the gate. As the aircraft was moving; I heard the master warning chime and the 'DOOR' aural message. Additionally I could see the passenger door opening out of the corner of my eye. I immediately stopped the aircraft and set the parking brake. The aircraft came to a complete stop before the door reached the ground. The First Officer (FO) and I established communication with the Flight Attendant (FA). The FA stated that she thought we were at the gate and had heard the seatbelt chime. I asked her to close the door and verified that all passengers were seated. With the door closed; passenger seated and under guidance from the wing walkers; we taxied the rest of the way to the gate and completed a normal shutdown. The event was caused by a lack of situational awareness of the FA. As the PIC; I failed to make an announcement that we had not arrived at the gate even though the aircraft was stopped. The lack of available outside reference to the FA [also] contributed to a lack of situational awareness. As the PIC; I should have announced that we had not reached the gate. Additionally; providing a window through which the area outside the main cabin door can be viewed would have likely prevented this from happening.

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.