Flight attendant report regarding a B767-200 which encountered CAT and since the seat belt sign was ...

Attributes
ACN	429638
Time
Date	199902
Day	Sun
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	atc facility : zob
State Reference	OH
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air carrier
Navigation In Use	Other
Flight Phase	cruise other
Route In Use	enroute : atlantic
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight attendant : on duty
Qualification	other other : other
ASRS Report	429638
Person 2
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : captain oversight : pic
Events
Anomaly	inflight encounter : weather other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other other : unspecified
Resolutory Action	none taken : unable
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Air Traffic Incident	other

Narrative:

Clear air turbulence. Since the seatbelt sign is now on for most of the flight, there is no way to notify flight attendants that we ourselves need to take our seats. There has to be some signal to let flight attendants know to situation down, perhaps flashing the seat belt sign 4 times since the flight crew may be too busy to call and explain the situation going on with the WX. Also to explain to passenger why flight crew are seated with our belts on -- since it was almost impossible to answer call lights. We could not move safely about the cabin and passenger don't know why! Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: reporter states that during the incident there were no injuries. The cabin attendants were thrown about and also a few passenger who were up to use the lavatory. The carts had not been stowed since there was no warning of the turbulence, so items from the galley were flying about. The idea of flashing the seat belt sign came from a captain on a flight following the incident. He spoke to the cabin attendants prior to the flight with the information that he would use the flashing of the seat belt sign to alert them to stow items and be seated on the jump seats.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: FLT ATTENDANT RPT REGARDING A B767-200 WHICH ENCOUNTERED CAT AND SINCE THE SEAT BELT SIGN WAS ALREADY ON THE CABIN ATTENDANTS WERE NOT WARNED OF THE TURB AND THAT THEY SHOULD BE SEATED. NO INJURIES.

Narrative: CLR AIR TURB. SINCE THE SEATBELT SIGN IS NOW ON FOR MOST OF THE FLT, THERE IS NO WAY TO NOTIFY FLT ATTENDANTS THAT WE OURSELVES NEED TO TAKE OUR SEATS. THERE HAS TO BE SOME SIGNAL TO LET FLT ATTENDANTS KNOW TO SIT DOWN, PERHAPS FLASHING THE SEAT BELT SIGN 4 TIMES SINCE THE FLC MAY BE TOO BUSY TO CALL AND EXPLAIN THE SIT GOING ON WITH THE WX. ALSO TO EXPLAIN TO PAX WHY FLC ARE SEATED WITH OUR BELTS ON -- SINCE IT WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO ANSWER CALL LIGHTS. WE COULD NOT MOVE SAFELY ABOUT THE CABIN AND PAX DON'T KNOW WHY! CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATES THAT DURING THE INCIDENT THERE WERE NO INJURIES. THE CABIN ATTENDANTS WERE THROWN ABOUT AND ALSO A FEW PAX WHO WERE UP TO USE THE LAVATORY. THE CARTS HAD NOT BEEN STOWED SINCE THERE WAS NO WARNING OF THE TURB, SO ITEMS FROM THE GALLEY WERE FLYING ABOUT. THE IDEA OF FLASHING THE SEAT BELT SIGN CAME FROM A CAPT ON A FLT FOLLOWING THE INCIDENT. HE SPOKE TO THE CABIN ATTENDANTS PRIOR TO THE FLT WITH THE INFO THAT HE WOULD USE THE FLASHING OF THE SEAT BELT SIGN TO ALERT THEM TO STOW ITEMS AND BE SEATED ON THE JUMP SEATS.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 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.

Flight attendant report regarding a B767-200 which encountered CAT and since the seat belt sign was already on the cabin attendants were not warned of the turbulence and that they should be seated. No injuries.