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A flight attendant working the aft cabin of a B747-400 aircraft reports that meal service cart tie-downs were missing at main cabin doors 5-left (5L) and 5-right (5R). Concerns raised for passenger and flight attendant safety due to carts left temporarily unattended and not tied down during meal service.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1099755 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201307 |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B747-400 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Galley Furnishing |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Flight Attendant In Charge |
| Qualification | Flight Attendant Current |
| Experience | Flight Attendant Airline Total 20 Flight Attendant Total 20 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown |
Narrative:
Far violation: full meal carts left unattended without being on [floor] tie-down. Reason for this was that there were no tie-downs on aircraft. I have never seen any of our B747s without tie-downs; so am assuming they are being removed. As per service standards in [our] flight attendant manual; when cabin is full [of passengers] (it was); procedure is for aft purser to park two meal carts at door 5-Left (5L) and 5-Right (5R) on the tie-downs so that aisle flight attendants can serve last section of cabin. This is exactly how service standards required to do it and also the only way to accomplish service; as beverage carts have already passed the galley by the time aisle flight attendant runs out of next to last meal cart. Aisle flight attendant cannot get past beverage cart safely; so [instead]; picks up last meal cart in aft most section; usually parked on tie down. However tie-down was not present. Aft purser had to park carts there anyway as there is no other way to accomplish service on a full [passenger] load. This is an unsafe practice that could've resulted in passenger or flight attendant injury had there been turbulence. I have no idea why tie-down was not present--I have never seen a B747 without them installed at doors 5L/5R. I hope they are not being removed as this will most likely lead to injuries though none occurred on this flight. I will be asking supervisors if there is a program to remove tie-downs.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A Flight Attendant working the aft cabin of a B747-400 aircraft reports that meal service cart tie-downs were missing at main cabin doors 5-left (5L) and 5-right (5R). Concerns raised for passenger and flight attendant safety due to carts left temporarily unattended and not tied down during meal service.
Narrative: FAR violation: Full meal carts left unattended without being on [floor] tie-down. Reason for this was that there were NO tie-downs on aircraft. I have never seen any of our B747s without tie-downs; so am assuming they are being removed. As per service standards in [our] Flight Attendant Manual; when cabin is full [of passengers] (it was); procedure is for Aft Purser to park two meal carts at door 5-Left (5L) and 5-Right (5R) on the tie-downs so that aisle flight attendants can serve last section of cabin. This is exactly how service standards required to do it and also the only way to accomplish service; as beverage carts have already passed the galley by the time aisle flight attendant runs out of next to last meal cart. Aisle flight attendant cannot get past beverage cart safely; so [instead]; picks up last meal cart in aft most section; usually parked on tie down. However tie-down was not present. Aft Purser had to park carts there anyway as there is no other way to accomplish service on a full [passenger] load. This is an unsafe practice that could've resulted in passenger or flight attendant injury had there been turbulence. I have no idea why tie-down was not present--I have never seen a B747 without them installed at Doors 5L/5R. I hope they are not being removed as this will most likely lead to injuries though none occurred on this flight. I will be asking supervisors if there is a program to remove tie-downs.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 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.