Narrative:

The flight attendant performed in a very professional way. Only 2 passenger refused to get back on the flight. But what is frightening is that my airline continues to fly this aircraft with the circuit breakers pulled. First class passenger, at $6000 a seat, manually put their seats up and down, which proves my airline does not care about its crews or passenger. We arrived in bos at XA00 on may/xa/00. Flight XXX left bos at XB47 (47 mins late while the captain had all the circuit breakers pulled before it returned to lhr). The flight continued to fly in same condition between lhr-jfk. On may/xa/00 arriving lhr to ewr the plane's logbook was pulled back up to see why the seats hadn't worked. The ground crew did not tell the flight attendants that this flight was in an emergency on may/xa/00. Callback conversation with reporter revealed the following information: the reporter stated that the sparks were from under the passenger seats in the economy section, causing the passenger to jump up out of their seats in a panic. The smell was extremely strong all the way up to first class. The copilot came back to check it out and then they 'shut down the plugs up front.' the captain decided to divert to shannon to have it checked out. They landed in 22 mins and were quite overweight. After they landed, the captain called back to see if there were still sparks. There weren't, so he taxied to the gate, where firemen were waiting for them on the jetbridge. The passenger deplaned, the plane thoroughly checked out, and then 2 mechanics were flown in from london. The delay was over 5 hours. What concerned the reporter the most was that a week later, while in heathrow, she was talking to a ground crew person and overheard the agent saying that they shouldn't tell the outbound flight attendants about the emergency that occurred on the same aircraft that the reporter had been on the previous week. She couldn't believe that the company was trying to cover up the emergency she had had on the same airplane the week before from the flight attendants.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CABIN ATTENDANT RPT, A300, LHR-BOS. SPARKS FROM WIRES ON FLOOR UNDERNEATH SEAT AREA, BURNING ELECTRICAL SMELL. CAPT PULLED ALL CIRCUIT BREAKERS. DIVERT TO SHANNON. COMPANY COVER-UP FOR SUBSEQUENT CREWS.

Narrative: THE FLT ATTENDANT PERFORMED IN A VERY PROFESSIONAL WAY. ONLY 2 PAX REFUSED TO GET BACK ON THE FLT. BUT WHAT IS FRIGHTENING IS THAT MY AIRLINE CONTINUES TO FLY THIS ACFT WITH THE CIRCUIT BREAKERS PULLED. FIRST CLASS PAX, AT $6000 A SEAT, MANUALLY PUT THEIR SEATS UP AND DOWN, WHICH PROVES MY AIRLINE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT ITS CREWS OR PAX. WE ARRIVED IN BOS AT XA00 ON MAY/XA/00. FLT XXX LEFT BOS AT XB47 (47 MINS LATE WHILE THE CAPT HAD ALL THE CIRCUIT BREAKERS PULLED BEFORE IT RETURNED TO LHR). THE FLT CONTINUED TO FLY IN SAME CONDITION BTWN LHR-JFK. ON MAY/XA/00 ARRIVING LHR TO EWR THE PLANE'S LOGBOOK WAS PULLED BACK UP TO SEE WHY THE SEATS HADN'T WORKED. THE GND CREW DID NOT TELL THE FLT ATTENDANTS THAT THIS FLT WAS IN AN EMER ON MAY/XA/00. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR STATED THAT THE SPARKS WERE FROM UNDER THE PAX SEATS IN THE ECONOMY SECTION, CAUSING THE PAX TO JUMP UP OUT OF THEIR SEATS IN A PANIC. THE SMELL WAS EXTREMELY STRONG ALL THE WAY UP TO FIRST CLASS. THE COPLT CAME BACK TO CHK IT OUT AND THEN THEY 'SHUT DOWN THE PLUGS UP FRONT.' THE CAPT DECIDED TO DIVERT TO SHANNON TO HAVE IT CHKED OUT. THEY LANDED IN 22 MINS AND WERE QUITE OVERWT. AFTER THEY LANDED, THE CAPT CALLED BACK TO SEE IF THERE WERE STILL SPARKS. THERE WEREN'T, SO HE TAXIED TO THE GATE, WHERE FIREMEN WERE WAITING FOR THEM ON THE JETBRIDGE. THE PAX DEPLANED, THE PLANE THOROUGHLY CHKED OUT, AND THEN 2 MECHS WERE FLOWN IN FROM LONDON. THE DELAY WAS OVER 5 HRS. WHAT CONCERNED THE RPTR THE MOST WAS THAT A WK LATER, WHILE IN HEATHROW, SHE WAS TALKING TO A GND CREW PERSON AND OVERHEARD THE AGENT SAYING THAT THEY SHOULDN'T TELL THE OUTBOUND FLT ATTENDANTS ABOUT THE EMER THAT OCCURRED ON THE SAME ACFT THAT THE RPTR HAD BEEN ON THE PREVIOUS WK. SHE COULDN'T BELIEVE THAT THE COMPANY WAS TRYING TO COVER UP THE EMER SHE HAD HAD ON THE SAME AIRPLANE THE WK BEFORE FROM THE FLT ATTENDANTS.

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.