Narrative:

Upon final boarding I noticed a jam of passengers in the forward part of the main cabin; 10-12 passengers came down at the same time as the agent did with the final paperwork. I walked back to see if I could help find space for the extra bags. I was notified by the #4 that we had some carry on bags that would needed to be gate checked. I turned around and told the captain; he was standing in cockpit door that the agent would need to check some bags. I walked forward and saw the aircraft door was closed. I told captain that we needed to open door to get bags checked and he told me that we would just have to find room. I walked back toward the main cabin and spoke with #2 and #4 telling them that we were going to have to rearrange the over head bins to make some room. The #4 told me that we had 5 bags to check. #4 told captain that the door must be opened in order to accommodate bags. Captain then made PA telling passengers that they were going to need to take small bags out of over head bins and place them under the seats. He also stated over the PA that if this was not done he would walk through the cabin himself and remove bags and find out who the owners were in order to make room. #2 at this time was able to make room for 2 bags by pulling bags out of over head bins and moving things around [by] herself; were able to make room for 3 bags total in over head bins. I then walked to front of aircraft to let captain know that we would in fact have to open door for the remaining bags. The last two bags were gone. I asked captain where bags were and he said he made room. I looked in forward closet to be sure no bags were stacked in the closet and found that there was a passenger bag where my in-flight bag was previously. I questioned captain as to where my bag had been moved and he told me he put it in the cockpit with other passenger bag. He asked if I needed my bag and I said; 'yes; it has my manual and other items I'm required to have handy.' I asked first officer where my bag was and he pointed to an area behind captain's seat. My bag was in cockpit behind seat on top of passenger roller board bag. Regrettably after I removed my bag I was so flustered I didn't think to question the reasoning of having a passenger bag in the cockpit until later in-flight. I made not less that 3 PA's on boarding regarding accommodating carry on bags and where to properly stow bags. The agent boarded at least 10 passengers at the last minute so we had a log jam in cabin. I assume the agents knew we would have bags as there was a second agent on jetbridge with bag tags for any overage. My concern is that I was never asked if cabin was ready. We had half the over head bins open trying to make space for final passengers; we had 10-12 passengers standing in aisle; and 5 bags that needed checking. There was a lack of communication between the agent and myself; which could have been resulted in hefty fines if this was observed by anyone in the FAA. The aircraft door should never have been closed without my ok; delay or not. This was not one passenger boarded late; this was 10-12 people standing in aisle.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A MD80 Flight Attendant reported that the Gate Agent closed the main cabin door before passengers were seated and five bags needed to be removed. The Captain forced the passengers and crew to put bags in the overhead and those which did not fit went to the cockpit.

Narrative: Upon final boarding I noticed a jam of passengers in the forward part of the main cabin; 10-12 passengers came down at the same time as the agent did with the final paperwork. I walked back to see if I could help find space for the extra bags. I was notified by the #4 that we had some carry on bags that would needed to be gate checked. I turned around and told the Captain; he was standing in cockpit door that the agent would need to check some bags. I walked forward and saw the aircraft door was closed. I told Captain that we needed to open door to get bags checked and he told me that we would just have to find room. I walked back toward the main cabin and spoke with #2 and #4 telling them that we were going to have to rearrange the over head bins to make some room. The #4 told me that we had 5 bags to check. #4 told Captain that the door must be opened in order to accommodate bags. Captain then made PA telling passengers that they were going to need to take small bags out of over head bins and place them under the seats. He also stated over the PA that if this was not done he would walk through the cabin himself and remove bags and find out who the owners were in order to make room. #2 at this time was able to make room for 2 bags by pulling bags out of over head bins and moving things around [by] herself; were able to make room for 3 bags total in over head bins. I then walked to front of aircraft to let Captain know that we would in fact have to open door for the remaining bags. The last two bags were gone. I asked Captain where bags were and he said he made room. I looked in forward closet to be sure no bags were stacked in the closet and found that there was a passenger bag where my in-flight bag was previously. I questioned Captain as to where my bag had been moved and he told me he put it in the cockpit with other passenger bag. He asked if I needed my bag and I said; 'Yes; it has my manual and other items I'm required to have handy.' I asked First Officer where my bag was and he pointed to an area behind Captain's seat. My bag was in cockpit behind seat on top of passenger roller board bag. Regrettably after I removed my bag I was so flustered I didn't think to question the reasoning of having a passenger bag in the cockpit until later in-flight. I made not less that 3 PA's on boarding regarding accommodating carry on bags and where to properly stow bags. The agent boarded at least 10 passengers at the last minute so we had a log jam in cabin. I assume the agents knew we would have bags as there was a second agent on jetbridge with bag tags for any overage. My concern is that I was never asked if cabin was ready. We had half the over head bins open trying to make space for final passengers; we had 10-12 passengers standing in aisle; and 5 bags that needed checking. There was a lack of communication between the agent and myself; which could have been resulted in hefty fines if this was observed by anyone in the FAA. The aircraft door should never have been closed without my OK; delay or not. This was not one passenger boarded late; this was 10-12 people standing in aisle.

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.