Another great question from Albert:

“Now… the question for this Wednesday. Can you, as a FA, fly in any type of aircraft from your company, or do you have to have specific training for different aircraft?”

Yes and Yes: ) We can work on board any of the airline’s aircraft as long as we are qualified on that particular aircraft. In order to be qualified on each aircraft type you must attend training and demonstrate the following:

• door operation in normal mode
• door operation in emergency mode
• preform an evacuation drill successfully
• pass a written exam on the aircraft type

Sometimes Flight Attendants aren’t trained on every aircraft and there can be a couple of reasons for this, it could be a new aircraft type and/or the aircraft only flies internationally so a Domestic FA may not be trained on it yet.

Flight Attendants are also required by the FAA to attend yearly training, one of the aspects of our training is aircraft and door proficiency.

Keep the questions coming!

Last week Albert asked:

“What has been the scariest situation as a FA having to use your emergency procedures?”

Great question by the way, and of course I have not one but four stories for you!

The scariest situation I ever found myself in was when we hit a flock of sea gulls on take off, I actually did a post about it back in January since it was the same reason US Airways Flight 1549 had to emergency land in the Hudson. Click on January to read more.

Luckily, I have only a hand full of emergency stories to tell you. Another good one happened when I had only been flying for about a month. It really wasn’t a scary situation at all but since I didn’t know any better….I was scared! We had a rapid decompression, and it all happened so fast. Right in the middle of our service, without warning, the pilots rapidly descended….I mean nose toward the ground…fast!! They had to of course, but like I said I was new and really didn’t know what was happening! All I can remember now is the oxygen masks falling and donning the mask closest to me. (each row has an extra mask) So, if this happens on your flight don’t be surprised if you end up with a FA on your lap;-) Once we were below 10,000 ft. I was able to switch to a POB (portable oxygen bottle) and check on all our customers to make sure everyone was alright. Like I said it was scary but not life threatening. It is actually more dangerous to be in a slow decompression because you don’t realize it is happening and before you do you are already hypoxic. I have a picture of all of us (crew) goofing on the ground with the masks still dangling, once the passengers were off the plane. I just spent way too much time trying to find it…and failed…if I come across it I will add it to this post.

My next story is scary because of a FA I flew with. It was the first day of a four day and we were on a flight from NY to Indianapolis. I was working with two other Flight Attendants and I was working the lead position. There wasn’t much going on and we only had about 30 passenger’s on board. Two of us were hanging out in the back when the FA in question came to us and asked if we smelled “something” burning. We did not. She felt strongly that she did, so we investigated and came up with nothing. Assuming, she now felt comfortable the two of us continued our conversation and FA in question left us and presumably went to the front of the aircraft. Ok, here is where the story gets good……this is the next thing that happened:

• I get a call on the inter phone from the FO asking where the fire is?
• After I crap myself, I get a grip and say, “I will call you right back.”
• Simultaneously, I’m looking for “the fire” and informing the other FA.
• we still find nothing and knuckle head…I mean, FA in question comes running to the back with a fire extinguisher!!!!
• I ask her where the fire is and all she does is cry
• Both myself and the other sane FA check the aircraft for any signs of fire and ask passengers if they notice anything…..we find nothing.
• I call the FO back to inform him…there is no fire. He says, “WHAT?”
• ummm, no fire! FO tells me to prepare the cabin, they already declared the emergency.
• We do, as FA in question is crying and telling us she is going to lose her job. We tell her she needs to help, we’re landing!

Here is the missing parts of the story…..FA in question went to the front of the AC after asking us if we smelled fire or smoke. On her way up she says she thought she saw fire out on the wing. She BANGED on the flight deck door (which was paper thin pre-911) and SCREAMED, “There is a fire in the back, it’s bad. get htis thing on the ground now!!!!”

Turns out there was no fire, we landed safely, with fire truck escorts. FA in question explained that her house burned down when she was twelve and that she had a flashback when she saw the red lights flashing out on the wings. Needless to say FA in question is no longer flying…as a FA anyway: ) And, yes as hard as it is to believe this is a true story!

My final story happened on our way from Boston to Houston. We were only about 45 minutes into our flight when the cabin began to fill with smoke. This was pretty scary! It was right after Value Jet caught fire. All I could think was, “fire on plane…not good.” We had a very hard time figuring out what was going on and the cabin was already filled from the back galley to the emergency exit row with dense smoke. The FO came back to investigate (also pre-911…we used to drag them out of the flight deck all the time!) When he didn’t find anything, and popping the circuit breakers on our ovens didn’t do anything we diverted and landed in Cleveland. Once safely at the gate….phew…..Fire Fighters came on the aircraft and ended up finding a pot holder behind the oven shell. The ovens on the airplane have a removable piece that catering puts the meals in and then places the whole piece in the oven. The pot holder had been left by catering in between the two pieces, so it was burning and causing the plane to smoke up. We were grateful to be ok but a bit peeved at the catering!

I hope you liked my answers and on a final note I have a confession to make……turbulence scares me! I hate it. I have only hit severe turbulence three times, I always thought I’d been in severe turbulence before but until my head hit the ceiling I had not! One other time a FA I was working with flew up in the air, right in front of me, and got slammed on the back galley wall and fell from about 3′ in the air to the ground. She was removed from the airplane in a wheel chair and was out of work for six months! What did my three experiences with severe turbulence have in common? They all came without warning! I have been known to hold hands with the FA next to me on the jump seat: )