Bad Day At Us Airways

[Deleted by Moderator]

Last night in PHL there were 3 separate slide deployments (I wonder if it is due to fatigue). Also yesterday my sister had her a/c fill with smoke during the safety demo. They returned to the gate and sat for 2 hours while the mechanics fiddled with the ventaliation system then they flew to West Palm Beach. They then turned the a/c and took off again and before they were up to 10,000 feet the pilots called and said they were dizzy and nauseous and they returned to the airport. All the f/a's were sick and nauseous too and they called the EMT's to check them out. My sister said her blood pressure was way up at 150/70 (normal for her is about 105/70). They brought in another a/c then asked if they were well enough to work, which they were not. They were then deadheaded back to PHL and put up in a hotel (all were PHL based) at company expense and are scheduled to pick up the balance of their trip tonight. The AFA Safety Rep called to check on her this morning and told her that the same exact thing happened 2 days before on another a/c and that the entire crew was still out sick.

 

[robbedagain]

was it the same plane that made the other crew sick and are still sick? also what would cause something like that to happen? and can the safety officials order the plane out of service until further notice to fix whatever the problem is?

 

[EyeInTheSky]

Question to look at: Was the plane "bug bombed" recently? My old lady passed out years ago on an F-100 that had been sprayed and bombed with bug killer. After she passed out the Captain and the rest of the crew refused to fly the plane. This did NOT go over well with the company and the plane was subsequently taken to the hangar and wiped down properly and was used the following day.

 

[MarkMyWords]

Different airplanes, different problems.

 

[delldude]

My old lady passed out years ago on an F-100 that had been sprayed and bombed with bug killer.

thats your joel.......joel......
joel laydee

 

[mlt]

A few years ago there was a problem with flight attendants passing out who were working Envoy on the A330. Many were taken off the flight and sent to the emergency room. The situation only occurred on the return flights from Europe. The only common denominator was the return flights served ice cream in Envoy class and the ice cream was packed in dry ice. Although the company never admitted to a problem, the ice cream and dry ice were removed and the flight attendants stopped passing out. However, I understand the ice cream has recently returned.

 

[USAir757]

Anyone know what kind of equipment? Was it a 733?

 

[AP Tech]

As for the slide deployments I have say that its a training issue!!! Maybe the work release inmates doing the cleaning were not properly trained on disarming the doors? Three in one day at a single station, now that may be a record!!! As Bruce would say "Bravo Zulu" Philly!!!!!

 

[USAirBoyA330]

These deployments happend LATE at night into the early morning hours and were by cleaners. All the flight attendant say they double checked the doors and the C F/A even walked back and looked before she left.
I belive 757's and 2 were the 4R door.

 

[700UW]

Contract cleaners, you get what you pay for.

And the F/As always say they checked the doors, the 757s are the biggest problem in slide deployments.

 

[jimntx]

To be fair to the cleaners, FAs ALWAYS say that they checked the doors and they were disarmed before they left the a/c. So, unless the cleaners re-armed the doors (and why would they? and how would low-life scabs even know how?), how did the slides deploy? You can't rule out mechanical malfunction without an investigation (IIRC at AA, we found some a/c that were giving the right signs that the door was disarmed when in fact it wasn't), but...that doesn't happen that often.

As a f/a, I try to be always conscious of door arming and dis-arming; however, there are times when someone or something distracts you and you forget. That is the advantage of having another fa cross-check you on that process.

At AA, I have, more than once, gotten on an a/c that a flight crew just left and found doors still armed that should have been dis-armed and cross-checked before that other crew left the a/c.

Some a/c have doors that are always armed--on the 757 if you have 4 sets of doors instead of 3 sets of doors and window exits, 3L&R, the doors directly behind the wings are always armed; on the A320 (A321?), both the 2L&R AND the 3L&R are always armed (well, on the configuration I am familiar with). Could it be that these were the ones where the slide was blown?

 

[phllax]

I was under the impressions that on the 757 and the Airbus, that if the door is opened from the outside it automatically disarms. Also, it is very easy to arm/disarm the 757, all you have to do is throw a level.

 

[jimntx]

I was under the impressions that on the 757 and the Airbus, that if the door is opened from the outside it automatically disarms. Also, it is very easy to arm/disarm the 757, all you have to do is throw a level.

You are correct; however, all we know for sure so far is that there were slide deployments in PHL. Everything else is supposition so far. No one has established for sure who deployed the slide, whether from inside or outside the a/c, or even what a/c.

 

[USAguy97]

You are correct; however, all we know for sure so far is that there were slide deployments in PHL. Everything else is supposition so far. No one has established for sure who deployed the slide, whether from inside or outside the a/c, or even what a/c.

I was on a crew several years ago and we were on a 757 and we had a slide deployment. The lever was pulled back to disarm, but the slide never disarmed inside. They Flight Attendants aren't allowed to open the doors from the inside, becuase if it still armed it will be disarmed from the outside. However, EVERY other work group opens the doors from the inside. I don't see the double standard of rules here. There has always been a problem with the 757 doors. Open them up from the outside instead of opening them from the inside and you would probably see some of these issues go away.