Narrative:

After the ground agent opened the main cabin door mcd and put the platform in place; he gave me the thumbs up (while saying 'thumbs up') and walked to the tail of the plane to unload bags. He didn't put out any safety ropes. I asked the passengers to remain on board while I asked the captain whether I should allow deplaning because there was no safety equipment out. The captain left the plane to speak with the ground agent about the lack of safety equipment. The captain and ground agent returned together and the ground agent said that safety ropes weren't needed because of single-door deplaning. I disagreed; but allowed passengers to deplane and instructed them to follow the painted walkway away from the plane. Nonetheless; two passengers attempted to walk under the wing to retrieve their bags. One of those passengers walked dangerously close to the prop. I called to both of them and instructed them to wait by the stop sign. They complied; but the situation wouldn't have occurred if the proper safety equipment had been out.I didn't feel comfortable allowing passengers to deplane without the proper safety equipment in place; but I gave in to both the ground agent and the restless passengers rather than standing my ground and stopping the operation.ground/ramp operations should be universal for all stations. While it may seem inconsequential to put out the proper safety equipment; failure to do so could result in a safety event and I'm never comfortable allowing people to leave the plane if I feel it's unsafe to do so.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Q400 Flight Attendant reported deviations from SOP while deplaning that could cause safety issues.

Narrative: After the ground agent opened the Main Cabin Door MCD and put the platform in place; he gave me the thumbs up (while saying 'thumbs up') and walked to the tail of the plane to unload bags. He didn't put out any safety ropes. I asked the passengers to remain on board while I asked the Captain whether I should allow deplaning because there was no safety equipment out. The Captain left the plane to speak with the ground agent about the lack of safety equipment. The Captain and ground agent returned together and the ground agent said that safety ropes weren't needed because of single-door deplaning. I disagreed; but allowed passengers to deplane and instructed them to follow the painted walkway away from the plane. Nonetheless; two passengers attempted to walk under the wing to retrieve their bags. One of those passengers walked dangerously close to the prop. I called to both of them and instructed them to wait by the stop sign. They complied; but the situation wouldn't have occurred if the proper safety equipment had been out.I didn't feel comfortable allowing passengers to deplane without the proper safety equipment in place; but I gave in to both the ground agent and the restless passengers rather than standing my ground and stopping the operation.Ground/ramp operations should be universal for all stations. While it may seem inconsequential to put out the proper safety equipment; failure to do so could result in a safety event and I'm never comfortable allowing people to leave the plane if I feel it's unsafe to do so.

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.