Narrative:

Prior to boarding we were told by captain to hold off on boarding passengers as we may have a major hydraulic leak (as I heard it in back galley). Maintenance was in & out of flight deck. Approximately 20-25 minutes later as I was standing in forward cabin talking to other fas & the gate agent; the captain gave a thumbs up to board the aircraft as the mechanic had signed off on the issue. I voiced my concern to the other fas & gate agent that I could not understand how we could have a possible hydraulic leak & the issue be resolved so quickly. I also understand that a pressurization test was done; but the forward boarding door was never closed. On taxi-out; after captain gave announcement to prepare for departure & engines were revving up; an odor was smelled and felt by passengers and crew & I heard a loud screeching noise. An flight attendant made announcement that captain was aware of odor and checking into it. I was trying to call captain about noise; when the captain gave the evacuation command. Passengers were already at doors by the time I could access. I had to put up my hand & tell them to stand back until the slide deployed and I knew I had good slide. We had many wheelchair passengers which slowed down evacuation. C flight attendant & I had to switch doors due to elderly gentleman being dragged by his wife w/his cane to my door. C flight attendant; being male said he would grab him under the arms to sit him on slide. I continued evacuation at 2R.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A320 First Officer and a Flight Attendant described a passenger evacuation when a hydraulic leak turned into dense smoke and fumes in the cabin and cockpit during taxi out.

Narrative: Prior to boarding we were told by Captain to hold off on boarding passengers as we may have a major hydraulic leak (as I heard it in back galley). Maintenance was in & out of flight deck. Approximately 20-25 minutes later as I was standing in forward cabin talking to other FAs & the gate agent; the Captain gave a thumbs up to board the aircraft as the mechanic had signed off on the issue. I voiced my concern to the other FAs & gate agent that I could not understand how we could have a possible hydraulic leak & the issue be resolved so quickly. I also understand that a pressurization test was done; but the forward boarding door was never closed. On taxi-out; after Captain gave announcement to prepare for departure & engines were revving up; an odor was smelled and felt by passengers and crew & I heard a loud screeching noise. An FA made announcement that Captain was aware of odor and checking into it. I was trying to call Captain about noise; when the Captain gave the evacuation command. Passengers were already at doors by the time I could access. I had to put up my hand & tell them to stand back until the slide deployed and I knew I had good slide. We had many wheelchair passengers which slowed down evacuation. C FA & I had to switch doors due to elderly gentleman being dragged by his wife w/his cane to my door. C FA; being male said he would grab him under the arms to sit him on slide. I continued evacuation at 2R.

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.