A320 Flight Attendants reported a loss of cabin pressurization during cruise that was exacerbated by poor flight deck-cabin communications. The flight completed a safe landing at destination.
Synopsis
A320 Flight Attendants reported a loss of cabin pressurization during cruise that was exacerbated by poor flight deck-cabin communications. The flight completed a safe landing at destination.
Narrative
Flight XXXX (ferry flight to ZZZ for pick up) on board 4 Flight Attendant's (fa) 2 charter reps and Company Mechanic About 3/4 or less FA 3 and I Noticed chip bags that were in a box on expanding and popping Like popcorn . Then we heard one chime and suddenly the lights came on the plane then ALL the oxygen mask came down. I tried to call the flight deck with no answer. We had a Mechanic on board and he was in the front lav when o2 mask fell. With not getting in touch flight deck I was concerned that they were in trouble. I tried to call again and no answer. The Mechanic was trying to open door on keypad then we finally got a call.We already put our masks on by the Captain said put mask on he mentioned 14 and Red pressure. Then quickly hung up. It was easy to figure we needed the masks due to difficult breathing. Chimes kept going off randomly. There was a terrible smell like plastic electrical smell. We had no clue if we were needing to prepare for landing or not. We had zero communication from the flight deck! We had no clue if we were landing else where...nothing! We had no direction and we stayed belted in our seats. Until landing.The FO finally came on and said mask off prepare for landing…he was very had to hear him.Once landed The Captain came out and said there was no emergency. But we never were told anything while in the air. Communication was as very lacking and we had zero direction. Then he was worried about me opening the door due to pressure…no warning lights showing on the door. I open the door. We need fresh air.Three times the Captain told us he grabbed the wrong the mask that made him unable to talk to us. But he was not taking it off to communicate with us. So if it wasn't an emergency then why did he not want to remove it? Captain said they were pushing wrong buttons...pushing WRONG buttons!Captain said did not declare emergency because it worked itself out when we go to 10;000 feet! And who ever made the announcement we could take our mask off never relayed we were safe and no emergency landing...we knew nothing until we actually landed which was a hard landing to add to everything.FA3 said he had hard time breathing; FA 4 said she was getting leg cramps and Fa2 ears were popping…prior to mask falling. I for one was having difficulty putting my seat belt on and FA3 put it on me…I guess I was so busy trying to call the flight deck I did not 'think' about myself.As a personal note; I was thinking is this it? I was trying to be brave and upbeat…but zero communication as to are we safe or something...the not knowing was stressful…not only me but the others also.We told the Captain we are going back to ZZZ1 and he said do what you have to do. I think he assumed he was going to resume the trip. Communication was needed and not sugar coat and say it was not an emergency when Masks are falling; breathing issues and rapid descending Cause: Loss of cabin pressure rapid decent."
Second reporter narrative
At approximately XA30 we were at cruising altitude of approximately 32;000 feet when we felt the plane slowly start to descend. Then we starting hearing the potato chips start popping that were in a box on seat XX. The more bags of chips starting popping more frequently and we felt our descent becoming more steep and faster. Lead and myself kept asking each other why are all the chip bags popping; which was very unusual to us. As this is happening we started getting random single chimes; which isn't normal for us or what we have been trained to listen for. We received probably 5 random single chimes. On the last single chime all the lights in the aircraft went to bright and the oxygen masks deployed. When this happened lead and myself looked at each other and said what is happening. I told lead to call the flight deck. Lead initiated a call to the flight deck but it went unanswered. When they didn't answer we decided we needed to put on our oxygen masks for safety. As we are doing this we can still feel the plane in a fast and steep decent. During this process before we got our masks on my chest felt very heavy as if someone was sitting on my chest. Once we had our masks on the Captain called. Upon answering the phone the pilot stated over the phone put on your masks red pressure and hung up the phone on us. We made sure we were seated and buckled in our jump seats and we had our oxygen masks on. A few minutes later the pilot came over the pa and stated we could take off our masks. Looking outside it seemed we were approximately at 10;000 feet. Once we landed we could smell a burning smell in the plane like electrical. We pulled to a stop disarmed our doors to prepare to open the doors. The Captain came out of the flight deck and stated we were never in an emergency but that they couldn't answer our phone call at the time as they had their masks on and if they would have taken them off it would have been a serious issue. I questioned the Captain if it wasn't an emergency and we weren't loosing pressure why were we advised to put our oxygen masks on and why did he have his masks on. He stated we never lost pressure we weren't in an emergency. I do have a screenshot of the comments from flight XXXX stating lost cabin pressure in FLT masks dropped. I will attach the screenshot to the report. If we weren't in an emergency why did we descend so quick? Why did our oxygen masks drop and why were we told to put them on? I do know we have an emergency button that when pressed it causes all the light to go bright for an emergency evacuation. The pilots had to push this button in the flight deck as we didn't in the cabin and it caused our oxygen masks to drop. The pilots failed to give us the 6 chimes signaling an emergency so we could prepare. I personally feel the was a breakdown in communication from the flight deck to the cabin crew causing undue stress on us mentally and physically. Cause: Loss of cabin pressure rapid decent.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.