A B737 jump seating flight attendant in the aft galley reported a faint sounding alarm and discovere...

Attributes
ACN	1402601
Time
Date	201611
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	B737 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 121
Flight Phase	Cruise
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Toilet Smoke Overheat Fire Detectors & Warning
Person 1
Function	Off Duty
Qualification	Flight Attendant Current
Experience	Flight Attendant Airline Total 32 Flight Attendant Number Of Acft Qualified On 7 Flight Attendant Total 32 Flight Attendant Type 50
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Passenger Misconduct Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor

Narrative:

I was a jump seating attendant on flight. All crewmembers were in the aisle doing their service and I was the only one in the aft galley. I heard 3 short bell/chime sounds and felt I should investigate. I stood by the aft right lav and a passenger came out. I felt that the sound had came from the lav; so I asked the passenger if he had been smoking and he said that he had a vapor cigarette and that he had used it in the lav. I informed him that they were banned from being used on the airplane and that he cannot use them. I went into the lav and inspected all compartments to make sure the area was safe. I did not smell any odor nor did I find any evidence. I notified the purser of the situation. I am submitting this report due to the concern of function of the alarm. No one would have never known that the passenger had used a prohibited item on the plane if I had not been sitting on the jumpseat. No crewmember would ever be able to hear the weak alarm sound. If this item is prohibited; shouldn't the alarm be audible as to notify crew members that prohibited activity was occurring in the lavatory? Did this alarm perform normally or should we be receiving a loud alarm when vapor cigarettes are being used?

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737 jump seating Flight Attendant in the aft galley reported a faint sounding alarm and discovered a passenger that has used a vapor cigarette in the lavatory. The Flight Attendant found the lavatory safe; but wondered why the alarm had not sounded loudly.

Narrative: I was a jump seating attendant on flight. All crewmembers were in the aisle doing their service and I was the only one in the aft galley. I heard 3 short bell/chime sounds and felt I should investigate. I stood by the aft right lav and a passenger came out. I felt that the sound had came from the lav; so I asked the passenger if he had been smoking and he said that he had a vapor cigarette and that he had used it in the lav. I informed him that they were banned from being used on the airplane and that he cannot use them. I went into the lav and inspected all compartments to make sure the area was safe. I did not smell any odor nor did I find any evidence. I notified the purser of the situation. I am submitting this report due to the concern of function of the alarm. No one would have never known that the passenger had used a prohibited item on the plane if I had not been sitting on the jumpseat. No crewmember would ever be able to hear the weak alarm sound. If this item is prohibited; shouldn't the alarm be audible as to notify crew members that prohibited activity was occurring in the lavatory? Did this alarm perform normally or should we be receiving a loud alarm when vapor cigarettes are being used?

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 jump seating flight attendant in the aft galley reported a faint sounding alarm and discovered a passenger that has used a vapor cigarette in the lavatory. The flight attendant found the lavatory safe; but wondered why the alarm had not sounded loudly.