Narrative:

I was the #1 flight attendant on this flight. This was a completely full flight; with 2 jumpseat riders in the cabin and 1 in the cockpit. Shortly after takeoff; the aircraft leveled off. I noticed that it seemed too early to level off and thought we would continue the climb out momentarily. Instead; the aircraft started to turn. I was still in my jumpseat; as we were under 10;000 ft. Neither I nor the jumpseat rider next to me ever heard; felt; or smelled anything different with the aircraft. After a few minutes; the captain made a PA to the passengers that we blew a tire on takeoff and we would have to circle to burn off fuel so we could return and land. After his PA to the passengers; the captain called back to the flight attendants to tell us we blew a tire; we had 30 minutes before landing; do not go through the emergency procedure checklist; and he did not anticipate evacuating but if we did the signal would be our standard. While the aircraft was circling; we flight attendants did frequent walk throughs to make sure everyone had all bags stowed; electronic devices off; seatbelts fastened; and tray tables and seatbacks up. Otherwise; we stayed strapped into our jumpseats. 30 minutes came and went with no other communication from the cockpit at all. I call the cockpit to ask when we were going to land. I was told it would be about 15 more minutes. When I sit on the #1 flight attendant jumpseat; I cannot see out the windows. I started to get worried because the captain was so uncommunicative; I was afraid we would touch down and crash without even knowing we were about to land! I called the captain and told him to let us know when we were about to touch down so we could be prepared. Right before we touched down; he called us and told us we were about to land and it was going to be rough. I am not sure the exact verbiage; but the #4 flight attendant asked if we had one or two tires on the nosegear and the captain made a flippant; curt reply to this valid question. The landing was smooth and we taxied to the gate. When I opened the aircraft door; a woman from flight service and a mechanic were waiting for us. I was the only crew member flight service spoke with. She asked if we were ok. During this time; two fire fighters with silver suits came up the jetbridge stairs; stood on the jetbridge for a few moments and left. I kept asking if we blew a tire; as nobody explained to the flight attendants what had actually happened. The captain did not let us know on landing if the aircraft was ok or broken. After many repeated questions upon arrival at the gate; I was told that nobody knew what was wrong with the plane because we had all our tires. The cabin crew and passengers were informed that we would be changing aircraft and to go to the new gate. This emergency was handled by the cockpit very poorly. Company procedures were not followed. The passengers were informed of the problem before the flight attendants were told; which is not procedure. I had to initiate contact with the captain. He did not keep the flight attendants updated on the situation. We had plenty of time to have gone through the emergency checklist; since we had to circle for so long. If the captain suspected it was going to be a rough landing; why did he say not to do the emergency checklist? If the landing was going to be rough; I believe it is procedure for the captain to say 'brace'. We never heard the 'brace' command. I was sitting on my jumpseat; waiting to land on the nose and go skidding across the runway with flames shooting out where the nosegear is supposed to be. The flight attendants were not kept adequately and timely informed of the situation.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: MD80 flight attendant was notified by the cockpit crew they were going to return after blowing a nose tire. The Flight Attendant feels this situation was not handled appropriately by the cockpit crew; creating a confused situation for the uninformed cabin crew.

Narrative: I was the #1 Flight Attendant on this flight. This was a completely full flight; with 2 jumpseat riders in the cabin and 1 in the cockpit. Shortly after takeoff; the aircraft leveled off. I noticed that it seemed too early to level off and thought we would continue the climb out momentarily. Instead; the aircraft started to turn. I was still in my jumpseat; as we were under 10;000 FT. Neither I nor the jumpseat rider next to me ever heard; felt; or smelled anything different with the aircraft. After a few minutes; the Captain made a PA to the passengers that we blew a tire on takeoff and we would have to circle to burn off fuel so we could return and land. After his PA to the passengers; the Captain called back to the Flight Attendants to tell us we blew a tire; we had 30 minutes before landing; do not go through the emergency procedure checklist; and he did not anticipate evacuating but if we did the signal would be our standard. While the aircraft was circling; we flight attendants did frequent walk throughs to make sure everyone had all bags stowed; electronic devices off; seatbelts fastened; and tray tables and seatbacks up. Otherwise; we stayed strapped into our jumpseats. 30 minutes came and went with no other communication from the cockpit at all. I call the cockpit to ask when we were going to land. I was told it would be about 15 more minutes. When I sit on the #1 Flight Attendant jumpseat; I cannot see out the windows. I started to get worried because the Captain was so uncommunicative; I was afraid we would touch down and crash without even knowing we were about to land! I called the Captain and told him to let us know when we were about to touch down so we could be prepared. Right before we touched down; he called us and told us we were about to land and it was going to be rough. I am not sure the exact verbiage; but the #4 Flight Attendant asked if we had one or two tires on the nosegear and the Captain made a flippant; curt reply to this valid question. The landing was smooth and we taxied to the gate. When I opened the aircraft door; a woman from Flight Service and a mechanic were waiting for us. I was the only crew member Flight Service spoke with. She asked if we were OK. During this time; two fire fighters with silver suits came up the jetbridge stairs; stood on the jetbridge for a few moments and left. I kept asking if we blew a tire; as nobody explained to the flight attendants what had actually happened. The Captain did not let us know on landing if the aircraft was OK or broken. After many repeated questions upon arrival at the gate; I was told that nobody knew what was wrong with the plane because we had all our tires. The cabin crew and passengers were informed that we would be changing aircraft and to go to the new gate. This emergency was handled by the cockpit very poorly. Company procedures were not followed. The passengers were informed of the problem before the flight attendants were told; which is NOT procedure. I had to initiate contact with the Captain. He did not keep the flight attendants updated on the situation. We had plenty of time to have gone through the emergency checklist; since we had to circle for so long. If the Captain suspected it was going to be a rough landing; why did he say NOT to do the emergency checklist? If the landing was going to be rough; I believe it is procedure for the Captain to say 'Brace'. We never heard the 'Brace' command. I was sitting on my jumpseat; waiting to land on the nose and go skidding across the runway with flames shooting out where the nosegear is supposed to be. The flight attendants were not kept adequately and timely informed of the situation.

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.