Narrative:

Approximately 15 minutes after the completion of our flight; the FAA safety inspector who had been riding in the cabin; barged into the cockpit unannounced; uninvited; and blurted out in a stern voice; 'this flight is in violation of far 121.xxx.xx.xx...!' meanwhile; my captain was on the phone with maintenance and was doing his best to hear what the mechanic was telling him to do with the two maintenance write-ups which had occurred during the cruise portion of the flight. The captain asked him to kindly wait until he finished speaking with maintenance and so he waited until he had finished; obviously not realizing he was on the phone. Oops!the inspector proceeded to explain that neither the pilots nor the flight attendants had made a PA upon turning off the seatbelt sign. The captain informed him that we had been dealing with two separate mechanical issues at the time and had elected not to make the PA; but rather focus on the more important maintenance issues. The inspector informed us that truly it is at our discretion; however; one of the flight attendants was then responsible for making the PA and that they had not done so. He continued by stating that he was aware of the lack of this requirement in the flight attendant manual and that he intended on getting that changed. I will refrain from making comments about the inspectors lack of professionalism in handling this matter and just say it should have been handled differently.as far as the possible violation of an far goes; if the FAA inspector is correct then yes; there needs to be an amendment made to the flight attendant manual. As far as the inspectors handling of the situation; I will have to bite my tongue.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B737 flight crew reported being chastised by an FAA inspector post-flight for not making a standard announcement when the seat belt sign was turned off in cruise.

Narrative: Approximately 15 minutes after the completion of our flight; the FAA Safety Inspector who had been riding in the cabin; barged into the cockpit unannounced; uninvited; and blurted out in a stern voice; 'This flight is in violation of FAR 121.xxx.xx.xx...!' Meanwhile; my Captain was on the phone with Maintenance and was doing his best to hear what the Mechanic was telling him to do with the two Maintenance write-ups which had occurred during the cruise portion of the flight. The Captain asked him to kindly wait until he finished speaking with Maintenance and so he waited until he had finished; obviously not realizing he was on the phone. Oops!The Inspector proceeded to explain that neither the Pilots nor the Flight Attendants had made a PA upon turning off the seatbelt sign. The Captain informed him that we had been dealing with two separate mechanical issues at the time and had elected not to make the PA; but rather focus on the more important maintenance issues. The inspector informed us that truly it is at our DISCRETION; however; one of the Flight Attendants was then responsible for making the PA and that they had not done so. He continued by stating that he was aware of the LACK of this requirement in the Flight Attendant manual and that he intended on getting that changed. I will refrain from making comments about the Inspectors lack of professionalism in handling this matter and just say it should have been handled differently.As far as the possible violation of an FAR goes; if the FAA Inspector is correct then YES; there needs to be an amendment made to the Flight Attendant Manual. As far as the Inspectors handling of the situation; I will have to bite my tongue.

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.