Narrative:

The in-flight crew of 15 flight attendants knew at briefing that the jumpseat at door 5L was inoperable. No provision was made by crew desk to save a passenger seat for flight attendant position #10; as instructed in the operations manual. The purser agreed with crew desk. The reasons behind this decision were the minimum crew complement for the B747-400 is 8 flight attendants; so position #10 at 5L could be ignored in this case; and that company could use the revenue; as the economy section was planned to be full. Position #7 at door 5R was assigned as required by the operations manual but position #10 was left open; and the now 'extra' flight attendant was assigned position #17 at 3R inboard.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B747-400 CABIN CREW RPTS THAT DOOR 5L IS NOT MANNED PROPERLY.

Narrative: THE INFLT CREW OF 15 FLT ATTENDANTS KNEW AT BRIEFING THAT THE JUMPSEAT AT DOOR 5L WAS INOPERABLE. NO PROVISION WAS MADE BY CREW DESK TO SAVE A PAX SEAT FOR FLT ATTENDANT POS #10; AS INSTRUCTED IN THE OPS MANUAL. THE PURSER AGREED WITH CREW DESK. THE REASONS BEHIND THIS DECISION WERE THE MINIMUM CREW COMPLEMENT FOR THE B747-400 IS 8 FLT ATTENDANTS; SO POS #10 AT 5L COULD BE IGNORED IN THIS CASE; AND THAT COMPANY COULD USE THE REVENUE; AS THE ECONOMY SECTION WAS PLANNED TO BE FULL. POS #7 AT DOOR 5R WAS ASSIGNED AS REQUIRED BY THE OPS MANUAL BUT POS #10 WAS LEFT OPEN; AND THE NOW 'EXTRA' FLT ATTENDANT WAS ASSIGNED POS #17 AT 3R INBOARD.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of January 2009 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.