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A flight attendant reports that a special tab installed at seatbacks to lock the tray table latches at emergency exit doors L2/R2 and L3/R3 on an A321 aircraft; can be unlocked by contact. Anyone could inadvertently move the lock tab mechanism out of place causing the tray table to drop; ultimately slowing an evacuation or blocking the exit.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1227325 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201412 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | A321 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Pax Seat |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Flight Attendant (On Duty) |
| Qualification | Flight Attendant Current |
| Experience | Flight Attendant Total 22 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
On an A321 aircraft; the passenger tray tables appear to pose a possible evacuation hazard. Specifically; rows 11 and 25. The mechanism designed to keep the tray table in the upright position appears to be backward. In the event of an emergency and possible evacuation; anyone could inadvertently move the mechanism out of place causing the tray table to drop; ultimately slowing an evacuation or blocking the exit. The small round tab designed to keep the mechanism from rotating fully left or right is on the opposite side of the L2/R2 and L3/R3 doors. I believe this round tab should be aircraft left (if you're seated left) and aircraft right. Please advise.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A Flight Attendant reports that a special tab installed at seatbacks to lock the tray table latches at emergency exit doors L2/R2 and L3/R3 on an A321 aircraft; can be unlocked by contact. Anyone could inadvertently move the lock tab mechanism out of place causing the tray table to drop; ultimately slowing an evacuation or blocking the exit.
Narrative: On an A321 aircraft; the passenger tray tables appear to pose a possible evacuation hazard. Specifically; rows 11 and 25. The mechanism designed to keep the tray table in the upright position appears to be backward. In the event of an emergency and possible evacuation; anyone could inadvertently move the mechanism out of place causing the tray table to drop; ultimately slowing an evacuation or blocking the exit. The small round tab designed to keep the mechanism from rotating fully left or right is on the opposite side of the L2/R2 and L3/R3 doors. I believe this round tab should be aircraft left (if you're seated left) and aircraft right. Please advise.
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.