A B737 flight attendant discovered an aft galley supplemental oxygen mask panel locked with security...

Attributes
ACN	1180720
Time
Date	201406
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Next Generation Undifferentiated
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Oxygen System/General
Person 1
Function	Flight Attendant (On Duty)
Qualification	Flight Attendant Current
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown

Narrative:

This is in relation to a crew bulletin. During taxi-out I realized both aft galley supplemental O2 drop mask doors were sealed shut with security tape. Having experience with this known safety issue I immediately contacted the flight attendant and captain. We all three agreed I (flight attendant C) would simply break the security tape freeing both O2 door compartments so they would deploy if needed. Although I received full permission from the crew; this action is technically a maintenance procedure hence this report. Not having a procedure to verify active O2 compartments are in working order. Because we do not check this during preflight if there is something wrong it is either not discovered or found after we have departed the gate. I suggest we ensure maintenance is not sealing these doors shut. Also; add a visual inspection of active O2 masks compartments to the list of flight attendant preflight checks. This would be a cross-check of maintenance and would catch the issue before departure.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737 Flight Attendant discovered an aft galley supplemental oxygen mask panel locked with security tape during taxi and with the Captain's permission cut the tape before takeoff. No preflight procedure in place to check oxygen panel conditions.

Narrative: This is in relation to a crew bulletin. During taxi-out I realized both aft galley supplemental O2 drop mask doors were sealed shut with security tape. Having experience with this known safety issue I immediately contacted the Flight Attendant and Captain. We all three agreed I (Flight Attendant C) would simply break the security tape freeing both O2 door compartments so they would deploy if needed. Although I received full permission from the crew; this action is technically a maintenance procedure hence this report. Not having a procedure to verify active O2 compartments are in working order. Because we do not check this during preflight if there is something wrong it is either not discovered or found after we have departed the gate. I suggest we ensure Maintenance is NOT sealing these doors shut. Also; add a visual inspection of active O2 masks compartments to the list of flight attendant preflight checks. This would be a cross-check of Maintenance and would catch the issue before departure.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

A B737 flight attendant discovered an aft galley supplemental oxygen mask panel locked with security tape during taxi and with the captain's permission cut the tape before takeoff. No preflight procedure in place to check oxygen panel conditions.