I am a USAirways cabin crew attendant. Our initial and annual trainning
does teach us how to deal with a non-explosive, rapid decompression.
Interestingly it is often noticed by cabin crew first . We notify the
flight deck, and then follow instuctions given by the captain.
If noticed by captain first, he will then call the senior cabin crew member
into the cockpit and give special instuctons as well as brief them as to
how to prep the cabin for descent... I.E.give emergency demonstration,
reviewing the use of 02 masks to passengers, and do a cabin check to ensure
seat belts are on. We then resume our jumpseats and inform captain via
interphone that cabin is prepared. When we are called into the cockpit to
be notified initally, we are also given a time frame or window of time in
which to work with.
I had a slow decompression on an Fokker-28 when an emergency exit window
seal gave way. We did have a little snowfall in the cabin along with pax
complaints of sinus pain. Captian was informed, and gave the order to prep
for decompresson. We then did a slow spiral descent and landed without
incident.
You also referred to stowage of an O2 bottle in another entry. For pax
usage, our
O2 containers are mounted within a "flight case" which fits under the seat
in front of the pax.
We are instructed to place the entire package under the seat, much like
carry on baggage.
The pax is seated and then the cabin attendant is responsible for setting
02 flow meter and administering the 02. The 02 is on for takeoff and
landing. If it is emergency 02, the bottle is also to be stored in the same
manner. I feel that any and all 02 bottles should be secured so as not to
cause injury to pax, in case of turbulance or emergency landing. I feel
that a pressurized container should be tied down at all times. Especially
in the low pressure atmosphere of an aircraft.
I hope I have been of assistance. If you need me to elaborate further or
have any questions please feel free to contact me.
Regards-
Renee C. Sheffer
skyrage_at_compuserve.com