nomaadic

AUS-DFW a couple of years ago: i was in F, maybe two or three rows back from the galley. as soon as the engines went full thrust on take-off, china (or maybe glasses) could be heard crashing to the floor and breaking, like they were falling out of the cabinets. my seatmate and i shared a weirded-out kind of look and laughed.

then this week, on AX from PIA-ORD, at the same moment during take-off, the drink cart came loose and loudly slammed into the bulkhead. this time i actually got to see it happen because my seat was next to the galley(1A on the ERJ). i wonder if the other pax even knew what the loud bang was from? they couldn't see what happened. it was really loud and an unusual sound to hear on take-off. not funny at all.

does this happen a lot? it makes the FA seem sloppy, IMO.

demkr

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.654 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/104)

Sometimes I hear what sounds like glass moving sharply into one direction-but not sure about falling. One time plastic predeparture cups fell directly on my lap and that caused the whole plane to erupt in laughter!

rothsteg

I've been on many flights where something in the galley wasn't properly secured and stuff went flying, but have never seen anyone hurt. However, some years ago, a colleague of mine was on an internal flight on Aerolineas Argentinas and was heading to the WC when the plane hit an air pocket and an unsecured drink cart slammed into him pushing him against a wall. It did some damage to his legs and he missed a few weeks of work while recovering.

hillrider

I've seen it too. It's a violation of FAA rules but presumably the FAA hasn't been enforcing it (i.e. fining individual crews responsible for this real hazard). I've also witnessed a flight attendant leaving her seated, belted position next to the exit door during initial climb out to remedy her failure in securing carts, leading to another safety issue.

Come to think about it, in retrospect I should have reported it to the FAA.

nomaadic

in retrospect, i feel more strongly about it than i did at the time. drink carts are heavy and could definitely cause harm when freely moving about during that part of the flight. what if the plane needed to bank sharply? it makes me wonder if it could have migrated from the galley into the aisle/my seat.

do drink carts not have automatically engaged braking systems? it seems like they should always have the brakes on, and the FA should need to release the brakes by squeezing a lever in order to move it.

Blumie

You're joking, right?

PresRDC

I would have called the FBI, personally, or, maybe, Santa Claus; this is one FA who clearly deserves coal in her stocking.

cynicAAl

there's nothing "automatic". Carts have a red (brake) and green (unlocked) pedal that allows them to be moved. FA's apply the brakes any time they're not moving (or are supposed to).

I remember being on a DC 10 as a kid (yes, that long ago) on landing when a cart escaped the rear galley and rolled forward about 10 rows before slamming into the arm rest of the seat in front of me.

gemac

You new here?

magic111

Not being airline specific it is time to move to TravelBuzz. Thanks for the "alerts" notifying the moderators about the misplaced thread.

Happy Holidays

~moderator

sluggoaafa

the FAA has a Cabin Aviation Safety Action Program in place for such instances for Flight Attendants, Pilots, Mechanics, and Dispatchers.

Examples of Cabin ASAP reports are:

• Failure to complete an exit row briefing
• Violation of carry-on baggage stowage policies
• Violation of Electronic devices policy
• Door arming/disarming procedures violations
• FAA minimum crew violations
• Failure to check emergency equipment
• Failure to meet requirements prior to door closing
• Failure to obtain crew briefing
• Failure to perform any safety related duty while on-duty as a Flight Attendant

The Benefits of Self-Reporting are to encourage individuals to report incidents of inadvertent non-compliance with FARs, the FAA offers some non-punitive enforcement related incentives. Cabin ASAP is based on the principles of identification and corrective solution rather than immunity. Cabin ASAP offers an alternative to traditional FAA legal enforcement and Company disciplinary action. In cases where an individual meets the criteria for participation and complies with the solution recommended by the Event Review Team, the event is closed with administrative procedures, rather than legal or disciplinary action.

This program is designed for Crew Members to report and the Company/FAA to identify problems related to the safety incident. Under this program, safety issues are resolved through corrective actions rather than through punishment or discipline.

Majority of the time, it's due to other distractions while preparing for take-off, taxi, and landing. A few years ago AA was having a LOT of slide deployments at the arrival gate due to pax distracting the FAs. Because of this program, inadvertent slide-deployments have dramatically decreased.

AAFA

Flight attendants frequently leave carts and bins unlatched on purpose because we like to see much glass we can break and people we can possibly injure with flying glass and objects during takeoff and landing.

cordelli

I saw a cart snap off one of those flip down levers that is supposed to hold it in place once. The thing split right in where the rivet or whatever it was attached with.

In that case, it was mechanical failure, not the crew messing up.