Narrative:

We landed and are 'stopped/parked' and I hear the flight deck door unlock. Initial thought - crap; we are parked at remote parking and have the ramp to deplane and buses to take us to the terminal. Then I hear flight deck door open and captain comes out. I looked up to realize seat belt sign is still on. I turn to him and say; 'what's wrong and happening??' the captain replies; 'alley is full and I need to go. Everything is fine.' and shuts the flight deck door and goes into lavatory. We are on the ground; stopped; and I'm not sure how long the wait will be but assume since he's come out; unexpected; we must be sitting out here for a while. We touched down approximately 2 minutes prior to this happening.about one minute later the captain exits the lavatory and I'm thinking he is going to need to call the first officer to unlock the door. The captain shuts the lavatory door and before I could ask or say anything; he pulled the handle and opened the flight deck door and entered; closed and relocked the door. Perhaps 3-5 seconds later we proceed to the gate and parked. Seat belt sign was then turned off and I hear the door unlock as we are now parked at the gate. The jetway finally moved toward the aircraft and this is when I made my door arrival announcement and disarmed my doors. Later I checked; and we may have waited a few minutes before the agent arrived for the flight.I am filing this report as I contacted our union for guidance; and was advised by the chairperson this is not normal procedure according to the flight attendant manual. The pilot manual may be different; but what I have for reference and policy is not what occurred. This report is filed for clarification of policy and review of manuals and procedures. I asked the other flight attendant and we were not sure if perhaps we both missed a policy change or a new procedure. My fellow flight attendant thought that maybe because we were on the ground it would be different; but my concern was that I felt security procedures may not have been followed. I said I would ask for clarifications from the union and input as well.as the B flight attendant; she was not able to view the events nor have any knowledge of what happened and as it happened so quickly there wasn't even time to call the B flight attendant and let her know what was happening at the time. Furthermore; I felt that by turning from my jumpseat even briefly would distract me from vigilantly observing the cabin and being prepared to shout commands for 'help' or 'stop' if warranted. Fortunately; this was not needed.in my opinion; at the very least; I feel poor CRM skills were exhibited and a lack of communication on the part of the captain could have resulted in very different outcomes. Again; fortunately they didn't happen because we were on the ground. But maybe a call to say 'hey; I've got to come out for the lavatory but nobody needs to go in' might have been helpful; if this is the policy in the pilot manual; as I am not familiar with their policies. This event caused an issue where the proper procedures were not followed based on two policies being different between the pilot and flight attendant manuals.my report is filed based on my own actions and I have not discussed these with anyone else other than my fellow flight attendant and the union representative. However; for full disclosure; obviously the first officer had knowledge of these events and if it is their policy; we need our manuals corrected or updated. As well; there was a non-revenue flight attendant on board who was seated in [a] row easily viewable; but not certain if she was watching or not. Discussion during flight revealed she was rather new; so she may have questioned this event as well.review of pilot and flight attendant manuals to confirm policy is either different and to update policy. If the manuals are the same; remind pilot that even when on the ground; proper clear zone procedures must be followed. Good CRM between crew would also alleviate stress and tension while this happened.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Flight Attendant reported that Embraer ERJ Captain left the cockpit momentarily while on the taxiway; leaving the cockpit door unsecured.

Narrative: We landed and are 'stopped/parked' and I hear the flight deck door unlock. Initial thought - crap; we are parked at remote parking and have the ramp to deplane and buses to take us to the terminal. Then I hear flight deck door open and Captain comes out. I looked up to realize seat belt sign is still on. I turn to him and say; 'What's wrong and happening??' The Captain replies; 'Alley is full and I need to go. Everything is fine.' And shuts the flight deck door and goes into lavatory. We are on the ground; stopped; and I'm not sure how long the wait will be but assume since he's come out; unexpected; we must be sitting out here for a while. We touched down approximately 2 minutes prior to this happening.About one minute later the Captain exits the lavatory and I'm thinking he is going to need to call the First Officer to unlock the door. The Captain shuts the lavatory door and before I could ask or say anything; he pulled the handle and opened the flight deck door and entered; closed and relocked the door. Perhaps 3-5 seconds later we proceed to the gate and parked. Seat belt sign was then turned off and I hear the door unlock as we are now parked at the gate. The jetway finally moved toward the aircraft and this is when I made my door arrival announcement and disarmed my doors. Later I checked; and we may have waited a few minutes before the agent arrived for the flight.I am filing this report as I contacted our Union for guidance; and was advised by the Chairperson this is not normal procedure according to the Flight Attendant Manual. The Pilot Manual may be different; but what I have for reference and policy is not what occurred. This report is filed for clarification of policy and review of manuals and procedures. I asked the other Flight Attendant and we were not sure if perhaps we both missed a policy change or a new procedure. My fellow Flight Attendant thought that maybe because we were on the ground it would be different; but my concern was that I felt security procedures may not have been followed. I said I would ask for clarifications from the Union and input as well.As the B Flight Attendant; she was not able to view the events nor have any knowledge of what happened and as it happened so quickly there wasn't even time to call the B Flight Attendant and let her know what was happening at the time. Furthermore; I felt that by turning from my jumpseat even briefly would distract me from vigilantly observing the cabin and being prepared to shout commands for 'help' or 'stop' if warranted. Fortunately; this was not needed.In my opinion; at the very least; I feel poor CRM skills were exhibited and a lack of communication on the part of the Captain could have resulted in very different outcomes. Again; fortunately they didn't happen because we were on the ground. But maybe a call to say 'Hey; I've got to come out for the lavatory but nobody needs to go in' might have been helpful; if this is the policy in the Pilot Manual; as I am not familiar with their policies. This event caused an issue where the proper procedures were not followed based on two policies being different between the Pilot and Flight Attendant manuals.My report is filed based on my own actions and I have not discussed these with anyone else other than my fellow Flight Attendant and the Union representative. However; for full disclosure; obviously the First Officer had knowledge of these events and if it is their policy; we need our manuals corrected or updated. As well; there was a non-revenue Flight Attendant on board who was seated in [a] row easily viewable; but not certain if she was watching or not. Discussion during flight revealed she was rather new; so she may have questioned this event as well.Review of Pilot and Flight Attendant manuals to confirm policy is either different and to update policy. If the manuals are the same; remind pilot that even when on the ground; proper clear zone procedures must be followed. Good CRM between crew would also alleviate stress and tension while this happened.

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.