Caught up in a maelstrom of activity and the need to address a personal problem as their departure was rushed due to a late arrival; two flight attendants aboard an A320 realized only after takeoff that neither had armed their door for departure.

2011-05 · NASA ASRS report 951406

Date: 2011-05 · Aircraft: A320 · Phase: climb

Anomalies: aircraft-equipment-problem-critical|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|flight-deck-cabin-aircraft-event-other-unknown

Synopsis

Caught up in a maelstrom of activity and the need to address a personal problem as their departure was rushed due to a late arrival; two flight attendants aboard an A320 realized only after takeoff that neither had armed their door for departure.

Narrative

Shortly after takeoff I noticed doors 2L and 2R were not armed. Why? Our inbound flight was delayed more than 2 hours so the turn time was very quick. The Agent was very hurried to get the plane cleaned and get it out ASAP. I was greeting passengers. When they were all boarded; the number three Flight Attendant came to the front to say [that the] exits were briefed. At that point we were all near the front door.The Agent closed the door and pulled the jetway and the Purser said to arm doors. Number three and I then walked to the back of the plane; planning to arm the doors. As I left the front of the plane I realized I had a personal problem. I walked back to get something out of my bag and told my partner I needed to take care of something and went to the lavatory. She; at that time; was also getting something out of the other lavatory for a passenger. When I came out she was in the jumpseat; so I put my bag away and sat down; forgetting to arm my door.Shortly after takeoff; I noticed her door wasn't armed; then looked at mine and realized both doors did not get armed. We then both armed our doors.We later tried to go over the reasons why this happened. I believe the number one reason was trying to rush our departure combined with distractions that happened right as we needed to arm our doors.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.

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