CBP Confirms Crews May Open Aircraft Door on US Arrival, But Must Remain on Board

An OPSGROUP member operator's crew opened the aircraft door upon seeing CBP officers approaching after landing in the United States. The officers objected, telling the crew the door had been opened without permission, and the exchange became heated, though no fine was issued.

OPSGROUP checked directly with CBP headquarters, which confirmed that crews are permitted to open the aircraft door on arrival. CBP's own FAQ states that the restriction is not on opening the door but on leaving the aircraft — passengers and crew must remain on board until CBP clears them, a requirement grounded in 19 CFR 122.36.

After OPSGROUP published the incident, multiple members came forward describing instructions at various US airports to keep the door closed until CBP arrived. At one airport, the stated reason was that CBP needed to conduct a radiation scan outside the aircraft before the door could be opened. At some other airports, local CBP officers become annoyed if crews do not disembark and proceed to the CBP office promptly. CBP publishes General Aviation Airport Fact Sheets for many US airports covering local arrival procedures, operating hours, and contact information, and OPSGROUP reviewed several of these documents — including for airports where door-closed instructions had been given — finding no written requirement to keep the door closed pending CBP arrival.

This case sits within a broader category of aviation procedure disputes where a local, verbally enforced practice diverges from the written national rule, leaving crews to navigate a gap between headquarters policy and airport-level habit. General aviation arrivals into the US depend heavily on crews knowing both the federal regulation and the specific local fact sheet for each airport, since CBP staffing, facilities, and informal expectations vary by location even though the underlying legal requirement — remain aboard until cleared — is uniform.

OPSGROUP's guidance is to check the local CBP airport fact sheet before arrival and follow any specific procedure it lists. Where no written door-related rule exists and a crew is told verbally to keep the door closed, OPSGROUP suggests it is reasonable to ask where that instruction originates, since CBP headquarters guidance contains no general closed-door requirement. Whether individual airports update their fact sheets to formalize practices like the radiation-scan hold, or instead drop informal door-closed instructions to match headquarters policy, is the detail worth tracking at each affected field.