Narrative:

I did my preflight [as flight attendant 2] and everything was in place. I did see the D ring as required. During taxiing while by my door I looked down as the safety video was playing and did not see the D ring. I ran my hand by the door to feel for it to no avail. I immediately called the purser who called the flight deck. I explained to the first officer that my manual required the D ring to be visible when the door was closed and I could not locate it but am 100% sure I saw it when I did my preflight. The pilots contacted maintenance and again asked me if I was sure I saw it and I said yes. The copilot came out of the cockpit and again asked the captain what he should do. He walked to my door and asked me where it's supposed to be. I pointed it out to him and showed him door 2R and door 1 left/right so he could see what I was talking about. He ran his hand on the side of the door and nothing. He asked me to disarm the door which I did. He cracked the door open and we still could not find the D ring. He told me he was not comfortable opening the door with the engine running so closed the door which I armed when he was done. He returned to the cockpit and spoke to the captain and maintenance. I was asked by the captain again if I saw it and said yes I was sure. The captain then told me that if I was sure it was there prior to door closing then it was there. My question to her was even if it's there and I know for a fact I saw it how will this help me in an emergency if I can't access it? She answered that we were not going that far over water so I probably would not need it. Maintenance said if the crew was comfortable with it we could go. I told the captain it was her decision and I was just doing what my manual instructed me to do. My concern is that if it's a deferrable item it should have been communicated to the crew. No I did not feel unsafe since my door was armed and I knew I could evacuate if I needed to but I did not follow what my manual said and therefore violated far. When we landed and the door was opened the D ring was hanging under the door and I assume it was caught outside the door during the whole flight which is a cause of great concern to me since it's a small piece of metal and could have potentially ended up in the engine or scraping the fuselage or tampered with the door. The D ring is supposed to be velcroed to the door so maybe they need to look at the quality of the velcro or make sure they are not used. I would like an answer as to what I could have done differently or how to better handle this situation because I've had several issues with 757 doors in the past and am somewhat familiar with deferring a door and what comes with that. I did what my book said and was then told it's ok not to have it and we left with one of my checks not matching what my manual clearly says. Once again I did not feel like my life was in danger however after seeing the D ring hanging outside the door I wish I had advocated my position more firmly.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B757's main cabin door D ring was visible during a Flight Attendant's preflight but was not visible after the door was closed and armed.

Narrative: I did my preflight [as Flight Attendant 2] and everything was in place. I did see the D ring as required. During taxiing while by my door I looked down as the safety video was playing and did not see the D ring. I ran my hand by the door to feel for it to no avail. I immediately called the Purser who called the flight deck. I explained to the First Officer that my manual required the D ring to be visible when the door was closed and I could not locate it but am 100% sure I saw it when I did my preflight. The pilots contacted Maintenance and again asked me if I was sure I saw it and I said yes. The copilot came out of the cockpit and again asked the Captain what he should do. He walked to my door and asked me where it's supposed to be. I pointed it out to him and showed him door 2R and door 1 L/R so he could see what I was talking about. He ran his hand on the side of the door and nothing. He asked me to disarm the door which I did. He cracked the door open and we still could not find the D ring. He told me he was not comfortable opening the door with the engine running so closed the door which I armed when he was done. He returned to the cockpit and spoke to the Captain and Maintenance. I was asked by the Captain again if I saw it and said yes I was sure. The Captain then told me that if I was sure it was there prior to door closing then it was there. My question to her was even if it's there and I know for a fact I saw it how will this help me in an emergency if I can't access it? She answered that we were not going that far over water so I probably would not need it. Maintenance said if the crew was comfortable with it we could go. I told the Captain it was her decision and I was just doing what my manual instructed me to do. My concern is that if it's a deferrable item it should have been communicated to the crew. No I did not feel unsafe since my door was armed and I knew I could evacuate if I needed to but I did not follow what my manual said and therefore violated FAR. When we landed and the door was opened the D ring was hanging under the door and I assume it was caught outside the door during the whole flight which is a cause of great concern to me since it's a small piece of metal and could have potentially ended up in the engine or scraping the fuselage or tampered with the door. The D ring is supposed to be velcroed to the door so maybe they need to look at the quality of the velcro or make sure they are not used. I would like an answer as to what I could have done differently or how to better handle this situation because I've had several issues with 757 doors in the past and am somewhat familiar with deferring a door and what comes with that. I did what my book said and was then told it's ok not to have it and we left with one of my checks not matching what my manual clearly says. Once again I did not feel like my life was in danger however after seeing the D ring hanging outside the door I wish I had advocated my position more firmly.

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.