Narrative:

The plane had an inoperative PA system. The interphone and associated chimes worked; but that's it. No demo video sound; no seatbelt sign chime; no cockpit to cabin PA; no flight attendant to cabin PA; no smoking sign chime; nothing. We understood that the system had been deferred and that this was somehow legal; but we needed to know from the captain exactly how we were to accomplish the safety demonstration; how to protect ourselves in case of turbulence; how to inform the passengers of safety issues; etc. He really didn't have any specific answers for us and the MEL and faom are not very helpful especially when dealing with a widebody international operation. We used the two megaphones we had available to us. They are not very loud over a long distance and passengers really don't like being yelled at. They think something is very wrong. As a crew we decided to play the safety video and inform the passengers that the video has english and portuguese subtitles and captions. I was the portuguese translator on that segment so I went through the cabin and informed the passengers in portuguese using the megaphone that we would play the safety video and that it had portuguese subtitles. If they had any questions regarding safety please let us know. We couldn't narrate the safety demonstration effectively using the tools we had at our disposal and it would have taken forever causing unnecessary delay and concern if we were to use megaphones for that many people and that large of an area. The company and the FAA need to tell us exactly what was expected of us in that situation. We were very concerned for our safety and the safety of the customers. Even preparing the cabin for departure and arrival was difficult and there was no way to say welcome to america; please remain seated; etc. Without one or more of us being out of our jumpseat to do so. In conclusion; this should not have been allowed to be dispatched. It is not safe nor is it a positive customer experience.

Related reports:

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Flight attendants lament being dispatched in a wide body aircraft with an inoperative PA system. Some chimes do not function and megaphones are required to communicate with the passengers enmass.

Narrative: The plane had an inoperative PA system. The interphone and associated chimes worked; but that's it. No demo video sound; no seatbelt sign chime; no cockpit to cabin PA; no Flight Attendant to cabin PA; no smoking sign chime; nothing. We understood that the system had been deferred and that this was somehow legal; but we needed to know from the Captain exactly how we were to accomplish the safety demonstration; how to protect ourselves in case of turbulence; how to inform the passengers of safety issues; etc. He really didn't have any specific answers for us and the MEL and FAOM are not very helpful especially when dealing with a widebody international operation. We used the two megaphones we had available to us. They are not very loud over a long distance and passengers really don't like being yelled at. They think something is very wrong. As a crew we decided to play the safety video and inform the passengers that the video has English and Portuguese subtitles and captions. I was the Portuguese translator on that segment so I went through the cabin and informed the passengers in Portuguese using the megaphone that we would play the safety video and that it had Portuguese subtitles. If they had any questions regarding safety please let us know. We couldn't narrate the safety demonstration effectively using the tools we had at our disposal and it would have taken forever causing unnecessary delay and concern if we were to use megaphones for that many people and that large of an area. The company and the FAA need to tell us exactly what was expected of us in that situation. We were very concerned for our safety and the safety of the customers. Even preparing the cabin for departure and arrival was difficult and there was no way to say welcome to America; please remain seated; etc. without one or more of us being out of our jumpseat to do so. In conclusion; this should not have been allowed to be dispatched. It is not safe nor is it a positive customer experience.

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.