Subject: FA report NWA AC5804
The following about a HNL flight was written by a NWA flight attendant:
Aircraft nose number 5804
Let me start by saying the only reason I post this here is because you won't hear about it anywhere else and it's EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that we crew members know and understand what's going on in this new and strange environment we're working in.
Saturday night, 20AUG05... my crew shows up at the gate in HNL only to be told by gate personnel that the aircraft we'll be flying in tonight just had an emergency landing. It was on its way from Seattle to Maui and lost so much oil in the right engine it had to divert and land in HNL.
As we walked onto the jet bridge we could see six or seven replacement mechanics walking around the right engine looking rather clueless. There was also a woman with a purse standing next to them and we would find out later that she worked for the FAA.
It looked as though we weren't going anywhere and to be honest, we didn't want to go anywhere on a broken airplane supposedly fixed by a bunch of rookies who may or may not have worked on a 757 engine before. But sure enough, NWA made the decision to fly it... giving us what they called a "one-hour release" meaning, we were told, that the plane could be flown for one hour to see how it would perform.
So the boarding began and after an hour and a half of paperwork signing we left the gate... all of us feeling a little compromised.
A little more than an hour out over the Pacific ocean... the lead was called up to the cockpit and told we had a problem. The right engine was leaking oil again and there was a good chance we'd have to turn around and go back to HNL. We were told to stay tuned.....
Halfway through the flight, the lead is called back up to the cockpit and told that the engine was still leaking oil but we had reached the 'point of no return' and would continue to SFO.
Needless to say, it was a very long night... and while the passengers slept completely unaware, we were left sitting in the back galley wondering to ourselves if the oil leak would get any worse or how a 757 might fly with just one engine. (I never did have the chance to ask the captain this.)
The airplane landed safely at about 7:30 am and all of us walked off the airplane furious at the situation NWA had put us in.
Again, the reason I share this is because I very much feel that our lives were placed at risk unnecessarily and I'm very upset about it.
We did talk to our base manager upon landing and he assured us that our concerns were 'duly noted' (what this really means I have no clue.)
I then placed a call to the FAA Whistle blower Protection line and will make a full report to them tomorrow (Monday).
In the meantime, I suggest that all of you do the same thing anytime you feel that our safety is being compromised. In the last three days alone we've had a plane land in Guam with a broken nose gear, smoke on a DC-9 and a 757 land with four flat tires. And these are only the incidents we know about it. It's incumbent on all of us to be EXTREMELY ALERT... and if you see anything that doesn't look quite right.... SAY SOMETHING!
The following about a HNL flight was written by a NWA flight attendant:
Aircraft nose number 5804
Let me start by saying the only reason I post this here is because you won't hear about it anywhere else and it's EXTREMELY IMPORTANT that we crew members know and understand what's going on in this new and strange environment we're working in.
Saturday night, 20AUG05... my crew shows up at the gate in HNL only to be told by gate personnel that the aircraft we'll be flying in tonight just had an emergency landing. It was on its way from Seattle to Maui and lost so much oil in the right engine it had to divert and land in HNL.
As we walked onto the jet bridge we could see six or seven replacement mechanics walking around the right engine looking rather clueless. There was also a woman with a purse standing next to them and we would find out later that she worked for the FAA.
It looked as though we weren't going anywhere and to be honest, we didn't want to go anywhere on a broken airplane supposedly fixed by a bunch of rookies who may or may not have worked on a 757 engine before. But sure enough, NWA made the decision to fly it... giving us what they called a "one-hour release" meaning, we were told, that the plane could be flown for one hour to see how it would perform.
So the boarding began and after an hour and a half of paperwork signing we left the gate... all of us feeling a little compromised.
A little more than an hour out over the Pacific ocean... the lead was called up to the cockpit and told we had a problem. The right engine was leaking oil again and there was a good chance we'd have to turn around and go back to HNL. We were told to stay tuned.....
Halfway through the flight, the lead is called back up to the cockpit and told that the engine was still leaking oil but we had reached the 'point of no return' and would continue to SFO.
Needless to say, it was a very long night... and while the passengers slept completely unaware, we were left sitting in the back galley wondering to ourselves if the oil leak would get any worse or how a 757 might fly with just one engine. (I never did have the chance to ask the captain this.)
The airplane landed safely at about 7:30 am and all of us walked off the airplane furious at the situation NWA had put us in.
Again, the reason I share this is because I very much feel that our lives were placed at risk unnecessarily and I'm very upset about it.
We did talk to our base manager upon landing and he assured us that our concerns were 'duly noted' (what this really means I have no clue.)
I then placed a call to the FAA Whistle blower Protection line and will make a full report to them tomorrow (Monday).
In the meantime, I suggest that all of you do the same thing anytime you feel that our safety is being compromised. In the last three days alone we've had a plane land in Guam with a broken nose gear, smoke on a DC-9 and a 757 land with four flat tires. And these are only the incidents we know about it. It's incumbent on all of us to be EXTREMELY ALERT... and if you see anything that doesn't look quite right.... SAY SOMETHING!
