Narrative:

Shortly after the aircraft door was closed and we armed our doors; flight attendant #4 handed me an item that resembled a palm pilot or double business card holder; [it] was silver with hinges. She said a passenger found it in the seatback pocket. I had a napkin; held out my hand; turned to the cockpit door which was still open; and told the captain. It was his decision to reopen the door and hand it off to security. Flight attendant #3 and I both went to her door to disarm and wait for agents. When the door opened; I stepped to the threshold and handed the item to the security agent and explained the situation. (I was unable to step off the aircraft because of minimum crew issues). He immediately started turning the item over and opening it up. Both of us flight attendants were astonished at this and said as much. A gate agent didn't seem the least bit concerned so I said; I don't believe a proper security check was done on the aircraft for one; and secondly it is not procedure to open/handle any items found on the aircraft that they are to be treated as a potential (non secure) item. The gate agent said that he didn't see what the problem was; it was a palm pilot and he made a 'risk assessment' of the item and 'it doesn't look like a bomb'! Again; the #3 and I were horrified that he would even say something to that nature; especially since the passengers seated in rows 9 and 10 were in clear earshot of his comment. The #3 and I both told him to keep it down and what was he thinking saying something like that? I turned and went to the cockpit to relay the information the captain. Shortly thereafter; the gate agent came into the cockpit with the item; at which time I left. The captain had a discussion with him; during which time the #3 had been in verbal contact with one of our fams seated in row 4 to let them know what was going on. Later on in flight we had a chance to discuss the situation with the team leader of the fams that evening. We expressed our concern to both the captain and the fam leader about the lack of concern shown and how we felt the situation was handled in a complete opposite way that we as flight attendants have always been trained. The gate agent showed no concern toward the situation and treated #3 and I as if we were complete idiots and overreacting to something that was in his opinion just a palm pilot that was clearly left on board by a passenger.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757 Flight Attendant was given a Palm Pilot type device which a passenger found in a seatback before departure. The item was given to a gate agent who did not handle the item as a security risk which bothered the flight attendants.

Narrative: Shortly after the aircraft door was closed and we armed our doors; Flight Attendant #4 handed me an item that resembled a Palm Pilot or double business card holder; [it] was silver with hinges. She said a passenger found it in the seatback pocket. I had a napkin; held out my hand; turned to the cockpit door which was still open; and told the Captain. It was his decision to reopen the door and hand it off to security. Flight Attendant #3 and I both went to her door to disarm and wait for agents. When the door opened; I stepped to the threshold and handed the item to the security agent and explained the situation. (I was unable to step off the aircraft because of minimum crew issues). He immediately started turning the item over and opening it up. Both of us flight attendants were astonished at this and said as much. A gate agent didn't seem the least bit concerned so I said; I don't believe a proper security check was done on the aircraft for one; and secondly it is not procedure to open/handle any items found on the aircraft that they are to be treated as a potential (non secure) item. The gate agent said that he didn't see what the problem was; it was a Palm Pilot and he made a 'risk assessment' of the item and 'it doesn't look like a bomb'! Again; the #3 and I were horrified that he would even say something to that nature; especially since the passengers seated in rows 9 and 10 were in clear earshot of his comment. The #3 and I both told him to keep it down and what was he thinking saying something like that? I turned and went to the cockpit to relay the information the Captain. Shortly thereafter; the gate agent came into the cockpit with the item; at which time I left. The Captain had a discussion with him; during which time the #3 had been in verbal contact with one of our FAMs seated in row 4 to let them know what was going on. Later on in flight we had a chance to discuss the situation with the team leader of the FAMs that evening. We expressed our concern to both the Captain and the FAM leader about the lack of concern shown and how we felt the situation was handled in a complete opposite way that we as flight attendants have always been trained. The gate agent showed no concern toward the situation and treated #3 and I as if we were complete idiots and overreacting to something that was in his opinion just a Palm Pilot that was clearly left on board by a passenger.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.