Narrative:

When the announcement to 'prepare for departure' was made I was walking into the upper deck galley with a tray full of predeparture glasses. My flying partner was behind me in the cabin and I assumed she would arm both upper deck doors as I disposed of the glasses and cleaned and secured the galley in preparation for departure. I was not aware that she had left the upper deck. After the safety video was finished I checked the cabin; closing some sidewall bins checking seats and seatbelts and instructing a few passengers seated by the exits to open the window shades. I double checked the galley then sat in my jumpseat and fastened my seatbelt. My flying partner was still back in the galley area at this point and I asked her to double check to make sure the window shades by the exit were open. After take-off I noticed the window shades were still down so I went up to her jumpseat and quietly told her why the window shades had to be open. She said she forgot; then she thanked me for arming the doors for take off. I looked up at the door and was horrified to see it was not armed and the other door was also disarmed. We armed the doors and I reported it to the cockpit and the purser. Full staffing for the upper deck is two flight attendants--one committed to the aisle; the other in the galley. It is hard work in the best of circumstances and doubly so when one attendant is not working at 100%. In this particular situation I realized in the first few minutes of working together before passenger boarding that I would be doing much of her work in addition to all of mine. This proved to be the case when passengers started to board. While organizing the galley; talking with the cockpit crew regarding meals and security I was also hanging coats; stowing luggage in the closet and serving predeparture beverages. By the time the 'prepare for departure' announcement was made it seemed like I was going in 10 different directions. The door at upper deck right was my assignment. I did the preflight safety check according to the manual when I boarded and it was my responsibility to either arm the door for departure or make sure it was armed. I failed to do this on this day. I can assure you I double checked the door was disarmed upon arrival at our destination; armed for our departure home and disarmed after our arrival.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B747-400 flight attendant assumed her flying partner would arm her assigned emergency exit when she was busy with other duties. So did her flying partner. The flight took off with two exits disarmed.

Narrative: When the announcement to 'prepare for departure' was made I was walking into the upper deck galley with a tray full of predeparture glasses. My flying partner was behind me in the cabin and I assumed she would arm both upper deck doors as I disposed of the glasses and cleaned and secured the galley in preparation for departure. I was not aware that she had left the upper deck. After the safety video was finished I checked the cabin; closing some sidewall bins checking seats and seatbelts and instructing a few passengers seated by the exits to open the window shades. I double checked the galley then sat in my jumpseat and fastened my seatbelt. My flying partner was still back in the galley area at this point and I asked her to double check to make sure the window shades by the exit were open. After take-off I noticed the window shades were still down so I went up to her jumpseat and quietly told her why the window shades had to be open. She said she forgot; then she thanked me for arming the doors for take off. I looked up at the door and was horrified to see it was not armed and the other door was also disarmed. We armed the doors and I reported it to the cockpit and the purser. Full staffing for the upper deck is two flight attendants--one committed to the aisle; the other in the galley. It is hard work in the best of circumstances and doubly so when one attendant is not working at 100%. In this particular situation I realized in the first few minutes of working together before passenger boarding that I would be doing much of her work in addition to all of mine. This proved to be the case when passengers started to board. While organizing the galley; talking with the cockpit crew regarding meals and security I was also hanging coats; stowing luggage in the closet and serving predeparture beverages. By the time the 'prepare for departure' announcement was made it seemed like I was going in 10 different directions. The door at upper deck right was my assignment. I did the preflight safety check according to the manual when I boarded and it was my responsibility to either arm the door for departure or make sure it was armed. I failed to do this on this day. I can assure you I double checked the door was disarmed upon arrival at our destination; armed for our departure home and disarmed after our arrival.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.