Regional Jet 700 ER/LR (CRJ700)
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown
Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; General Flight Cancelled / Delayed; General Maintenance Action
Aircraft
Event occurred due to a door seal failing and the pressure inside the cabin putting too much stress on the seal.On the previous flight the flight attendant complained that the main passenger door was louder than usual in flight. After landing I went out to inspect the door and found nothing wrong.After leaving ZZZ we were climbing through about FL190 when an extremely loud noise started. I was loud enough that it was difficult to hear the radios through the headsets. The Flight Attendant immediately called up to the flight deck to tell us that it was the door that was making the noise. We stopped climbing at FL200 and pressurization seemed to be holding. The First Officer and I discussed returning to ZZZ and decided that it would be the best course of action for safety; due to the possibility of loss of pressurization; and passenger comfort; due to the noise.We notified ATC of our intent; followed by Dispatch then the Flight Attendant and passengers. As we descended the noise seemed to decrease; and we were able to hold on the Runway 26 approach course while we burned enough fuel to get below landing weight. Once on the ground we returned to the gate; deplaned and called Maintenance. The mechanic found that the door seal had separated from the door from around halfway down the aircraft front side; around the first step and about a quarter of the way up the back.After replacing the seal and running multiple pressurization tests the seal was continuing to pop out of place.After the loud noise inbound to ZZZ; I could have called Maintenance even though I was unable to determine that anything was wrong.
CRJ-700 Captain reported a door seal failure during climb that resulted in excessive noise and loss of pressurization.