B737-800
Flight Attendant Current
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural FAR; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General Maintenance Action
Procedure
I discovered that one of the AFT RH MC O2 [right hand main cabin] walk-around units was not in the bracket and the mask/tubing wasn't connected to the bottle but still sealed in the plastic bag prior to boarding. I showed the main cabin flight attendants the problem and told them to be on the lookout for this issue since I have found numerous bottles without the tubing connected and since it is not always obvious that the tubing isn't connected until closer inspection. I reported the issue to the Captain who entered it into the logbook and called Maintenance. The Mechanic arrived shortly thereafter and connected the bottle/tubing correctly. As stated previously; I am not sure why so many bottles are turning up without the tubing connected. I was unaware myself that this was an issue until a fellow flight attendant pointed it out to me well over a year ago. Since then I have redoubled my attention to this during pre-flight checks and have found numerous bottles that were not cabin ready with the tubing attached. As suggested in previous reports; this issue is chronic. If out of all of the flights operated and the few I am working; this is the THIRD O2 bottle found in as many trips. Again; it appears that a thorough check of all O2 bottles across the fleet needs to be accomplished to make sure all bottles are connected. With a fresh start; that would allow emphasis on both Maintenance and Flight Attendant training to identify and correct this issue before someone is left without O2 during an in flight emergency. In talking with many of my flight attendant colleagues; many said they were unaware that they were actually supposed to check that the tubing is connected during pre-flight checks.
B737 Flight Attendant reports discovering walk around oxygen bottles without the plastic tubing connected to the bottles on numerous occasions; during preflight. Maintenance is called to correct the problem.