Narrative:

We flight attendants were strapped in for landing when it felt as if the cockpit had decided against a landing and decided to go around again. Then the airplane went down and up down and up (short little dips) about 4 or 5 times in a row. (The cockpit may have been troubleshooting at this time.) we looked at each other and wondered aloud what are they doing? Next we heard an announcement over the PA from the captain. It wasn't clear but what we got out of it was that there were problems with the flaps and they were going to try to do something about it. We circled a few times before we heard the lead flight attendant's phone ring in the front. A couple minutes later our phone rang in the back. It was the lead telling us that the cockpit said that there were problems with the flaps. Due to these problems we were expected to come in too fast and possibly go off the runway. We had 15 minutes to do cabin prep. The signal to brace would 'brace' and the signal to remain seated would be 'remain seated' there weren't any special instructions. The lead made the jumpseat prep announcements. In the back we double-checked the galley to make sure everything was closed; latched and secured. Then we sat down; strapped in; and reviewed our evacuation duties. We got an 'all call' from the first officer. This was helpful because we got the same information at the same time. He didn't explain why (probably due to time constraints) but he said that the emergency may be cancelled once on the ground. This made us feel a little better in the back. When we heard the cockpit say 'brace' over the PA we yelled 'brace brace brace' until landing. As we landed we could tell that we were coming in much faster than normal. Almost immediately the cockpit announced 'remain seated'. We had not gone off the runway but there were many fire trucks and ambulances along the taxiway just in case. After all passengers deplaned onboard supervisor met the crew to debrief and remind us of the eap resources available to us if needed. The captain offered to debrief with us as well. A different crew performed a cabin preparation on this flight four days later on also due to flaps problems also on this same plane! Apparently the problem has not been fixed!? I am very concerned about this. The lives of our passengers and crew are at stake. Maintenance needs to know about this as soon as possible.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: An A320 Flight Attendant described the flight attendants' cabin preparation following notification by the flight crew about an impending emergency landing as the result of a flap malfunction.

Narrative: We Flight Attendants were strapped in for landing when it felt as if the cockpit had decided against a landing and decided to go around again. Then the airplane went down and up down and up (short little dips) about 4 or 5 times in a row. (The cockpit may have been troubleshooting at this time.) We looked at each other and wondered aloud what are they doing? Next we heard an announcement over the PA from the Captain. It wasn't clear but what we got out of it was that there were problems with the flaps and they were going to try to do something about it. We circled a few times before we heard the Lead Flight Attendant's phone ring in the front. A couple minutes later our phone rang in the back. It was the Lead telling us that the cockpit said that there were problems with the flaps. Due to these problems we were expected to come in too fast and possibly go off the runway. We had 15 minutes to do cabin prep. The signal to brace would 'Brace' and the signal to remain seated would be 'Remain seated' There weren't any special instructions. The Lead made the jumpseat prep announcements. In the back we double-checked the galley to make sure everything was closed; latched and secured. Then we sat down; strapped in; and reviewed our evacuation duties. We got an 'All Call' from the First Officer. This was helpful because we got the same information at the same time. He didn't explain why (probably due to time constraints) but he said that the emergency may be cancelled once on the ground. This made us feel a little better in the back. When we heard the cockpit say 'Brace' over the PA we yelled 'Brace brace brace' until landing. As we landed we could tell that we were coming in much faster than normal. Almost immediately the cockpit announced 'Remain seated'. We had not gone off the runway but there were many fire trucks and ambulances along the taxiway just in case. After all passengers deplaned Onboard Supervisor met the crew to debrief and remind us of the EAP resources available to us if needed. The Captain offered to debrief with us as well. A different crew performed a cabin preparation on this flight four days later on also due to flaps problems also on this same plane! Apparently the problem has not been fixed!? I am VERY concerned about this. The lives of our passengers and crew are at stake. Maintenance needs to know about this ASAP.

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.