Narrative:

The flight was normal until after the; 'flight attendants; prepare for landing' announcement from the captain. We were all in our jump seats and had been anticipating landing when I noticed that we appeared to be circling. We were still at considerable altitude; higher than normal for that phase of flight. Knowing we were in 'sterile cockpit' I just waited; thinking to myself there must be a lot of traffic this time of night because if there were any problems the captain would let us know.just then; the 'all-call' came over the PA. I answered and identified myself. The captain answered and said; 'we have a problem with our flaps not deploying the usual way so we have to get them down another way that just takes some time. I guess you could call this a simple 'heads up' because I anticipate a completely normal landing and there is nothing to worry about.' I said; 'okay; thank you;' and then confirmed my crew had heard our exchange.we landed without incident; although crash fire rescue equipment was at the ready down the runway. Upon deplaning; some passengers were curious as to why it took so long to land. I stated it was just traffic. I did not feel there was any need to alarm these passengers in any way when all was okay. There was only one passenger who challenged me by stating that he saw the fire equipment and that the flaps were still completely down even at the gate; so it wasn't just traffic.after landing and debriefing with my crew I explained what I thought had occurred and confirmed with the two flight attendants at door 4 that they both had said 'yes' when I asked if they heard the information. Unfortunately; we did not identify which doors had heard the info. I think in an effort to proctor excellent communication with all crew members when a situation that involves all crew members needing to be informed; that a new procedure [be implemented] to acknowledge receipt of the information door by door. That way if the purser does not hear confirmation from all exits; he/she knows to relay the information to anyone who did not pick up the interphone.upon turning on my phone on the way to the parking lot I listened to a very concerned message from a supervisor who knew of the situation and wanted to be certain that the crew was okay. I returned her call and assured her that there was nothing out of the ordinary on landing. The captain did not advise us to brief the cabin; it was merely a 'heads up' for the flight attendants and we landed without incident.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Incomplete dissemination of information regarding a flap extension problem; which delayed the landing of a B757-200; left some passengers concerned; and some Flight Attendants uninformed.

Narrative: The flight was normal until after the; 'Flight Attendants; prepare for landing' announcement from the Captain. We were all in our jump seats and had been anticipating landing when I noticed that we appeared to be circling. We were still at considerable altitude; higher than normal for that phase of flight. Knowing we were in 'sterile cockpit' I just waited; thinking to myself there must be a lot of traffic this time of night because if there were any problems the Captain would let us know.Just then; the 'all-call' came over the PA. I answered and identified myself. The Captain answered and said; 'We have a problem with our flaps not deploying the usual way so we have to get them down another way that just takes some time. I guess you could call this a simple 'heads up' because I anticipate a completely normal landing and there is nothing to worry about.' I said; 'Okay; thank you;' and then confirmed my crew had heard our exchange.We landed without incident; although CFR was at the ready down the runway. Upon deplaning; some passengers were curious as to why it took so long to land. I stated it was just traffic. I did not feel there was any need to alarm these passengers in any way when all was okay. There was only one passenger who challenged me by stating that he saw the fire equipment and that the flaps were still completely down even at the gate; so it wasn't just traffic.After landing and debriefing with my crew I explained what I thought had occurred and confirmed with the two flight attendants at door 4 that they both had said 'yes' when I asked if they heard the information. Unfortunately; we did not identify which doors had heard the info. I think in an effort to proctor excellent communication with all crew members when a situation that involves all crew members needing to be informed; that a new procedure [be implemented] to acknowledge receipt of the information door by door. That way if the Purser does not hear confirmation from all exits; he/she knows to relay the information to anyone who did not pick up the interphone.Upon turning on my phone on the way to the parking lot I listened to a very concerned message from a Supervisor who knew of the situation and wanted to be certain that the crew was okay. I returned her call and assured her that there was nothing out of the ordinary on landing. The Captain did not advise us to brief the cabin; it was merely a 'heads up' for the Flight Attendants and we landed without incident.

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.