Narrative:

We had just landed after a five and a half hour flight. It was dark outside and in the back galley; but the cabin lights were just switched to bright. By the time I put my gloves on and was heading to unarm the door on the catering side; it started to open. I yelled and grabbed the handle of the door to stop the proceedings. The strap was still across the window! I put the door back in place; disarmed it; and opened it to meet an unhappy catering guy greeting a scared flight attendant as I could have seen me pinned against the other door from the slide. I said to him in a loud voice; 'whats the rush?' his reply was 'I have 3 other planes on the ground'. I said 'but the strap is still on!' he said 'but it was dark in the back galley!' then I said; 'thats no reason to open the door because it was dark. The strap is still on the window!' then he switches his tune about 'disrespecting him'. Hell disrespecting a person that almost caused me bodily injury! I've never had a catering guy open a closed door before at least knocking once! Or have I ever had a catering guy come to the back galley so quickly! He obviously never looked at the window to see if a strap was on! Because he has 3 other planes on the ground; that we know he is not going to do all 3 of them at once was a weak excuse for him not following procedures. And what is it with it about 'being dark in the back galley means I can open the door without looking? I would suggest a. Follow procedures of never trying to open a closed door. B. Look for the orange strap. C. Maybe put in flight attendant manual that back galley light has to be put on bright once we hit the gate!

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A rushed catering agent attempted to open an armed aft cabin door with the window warning strap in place because a new Company procedure had the galley lights dimmed after dark and the agent did not see the strap.

Narrative: We had just landed after a five and a half hour flight. It was dark outside and in the back galley; but the cabin lights were just switched to bright. By the time I put my gloves on and was heading to unarm the door on the catering side; it started to open. I yelled and grabbed the handle of the door to stop the proceedings. THE STRAP WAS STILL ACROSS THE WINDOW! I put the door back in place; disarmed it; and opened it to meet an unhappy catering guy greeting a scared flight attendant as I could have seen me pinned against the other door from the slide. I said to him in a loud voice; 'WHATS THE RUSH?' His reply was 'I have 3 other planes on the ground'. I said 'BUT THE STRAP IS STILL ON!' He said 'But it was dark in the back galley!' Then I said; 'THATS NO REASON TO OPEN THE DOOR BECAUSE IT WAS DARK. THE STRAP IS STILL ON THE WINDOW!' Then he switches his tune about 'DISRESPECTING HIM'. Hell disrespecting a person that almost caused me bodily injury! I've never had a catering guy open a closed door before at least knocking once! Or have I ever had a catering guy come to the back galley so quickly! HE OBVIOUSLY NEVER LOOKED AT THE WINDOW TO SEE IF A STRAP WAS ON! Because he has 3 other planes on the ground; THAT WE KNOW HE IS NOT GOING TO DO ALL 3 OF THEM AT ONCE WAS A WEAK EXCUSE FOR HIM NOT FOLLOWING PROCEDURES. AND WHAT IS IT WITH IT ABOUT 'BEING DARK IN THE BACK GALLEY MEANS I CAN OPEN THE DOOR WITHOUT LOOKING? I would suggest A. Follow procedures of never trying to open a closed door. B. Look for the orange strap. C. Maybe put in flight attendant manual that back galley light has to be put on bright once we hit the gate!

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.