Narrative:

I was the 'B' flight attendant. Boarding began normally until the pilots started the APU and applied conditioned air to the cabin; APU air or ground air. At that time the aft cabin began to fill with an acrid smoke. I called the cockpit crew on the interphone and notified the first officer. Initially he said he could not see or smell the smoke from his position in the cockpit so I told him to get out of his seat and look. Subsequently; the captain; via the 'a' flight attendant; ordered an evacuation using the forward entry door and jet bridge. Passengers were slow to respond and 75% refused to go without their carryon baggage. Which left those of us in the aft cabin forced to breathe the acrid smoke for an extended period as the evacuation was painfully slow and disjointed. The passengers in the aft were becoming frantic since they were coughing and inhaling the fumes. I had already cracked the doors. The initial direction from the captain and pas by the 'a' flight attendant were nonstandard and not effective in moving the passengers off the aircraft. I had to call the 'a' for more information on how the evacuation was to be conducted. I spoke on the PA and tried to get passengers moving and leaving luggage behind. Once the passengers were off; maintenance and fire department personnel arrived and looked over the aircraft. We were swapped into another aircraft and continued our day. This was; in my judgement; contrary to our stated corporate priorities. The crew should have been pulled and debriefed; as the evacuation was poorly conducted.adherence to standard evacuation procedures and pas would have a made a difference. Had fire broken out during the evacuation due to passenger luggage cluttering the aisle; this would have ended very badly. We were never debriefed.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737-700 Flight Attendant reported smoke and fumes in the cabin prompted an evacuation at the gate that did not go smoothly.

Narrative: I was the 'B' flight attendant. Boarding began normally until the pilots started the APU and applied conditioned air to the cabin; APU air or ground air. At that time the aft cabin began to fill with an acrid smoke. I called the cockpit crew on the interphone and notified the FO. Initially he said he could not see or smell the smoke from his position in the cockpit so I told him to get out of his seat and look. Subsequently; the Captain; via the 'A' flight attendant; ordered an evacuation using the forward entry door and jet bridge. Passengers were slow to respond and 75% refused to go without their carryon baggage. Which left those of us in the aft cabin forced to breathe the acrid smoke for an extended period as the evacuation was painfully slow and disjointed. The passengers in the aft were becoming frantic since they were coughing and inhaling the fumes. I had already cracked the doors. The initial direction from the Captain and PAs by the 'A' flight attendant were nonstandard and not effective in moving the passengers off the aircraft. I had to call the 'A' for more information on how the evacuation was to be conducted. I spoke on the PA and tried to get passengers moving and leaving luggage behind. Once the passengers were off; maintenance and fire department personnel arrived and looked over the aircraft. We were swapped into another aircraft and continued our day. This was; in my judgement; contrary to our stated corporate priorities. The crew should have been pulled and debriefed; as the evacuation was poorly conducted.Adherence to standard evacuation procedures and PAs would have a made a difference. Had fire broken out during the evacuation due to passenger luggage cluttering the aisle; this would have ended very badly. We were never debriefed.

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.