B737-800
Flight Attendant Current
Physiological - Other; Situational Awareness; Communication Breakdown; Fatigue
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown
General Maintenance Action
Procedure; Human Factors
The 1L door was opened on a 737 aircraft in the armed position after the station agent received the thumbs up signal to open the door from myself. Subsequently the slide pack dislodged fell part way from door. I grabbed the door to stop further deployment and told agent to back away. I then called captain and told him of situation. He instructed me to get everyone away for safety and came out to assist. He took over my place holding the door and had station personnel call for maintenance. He calmly let passengers know what was happening and remained at door until slide pack was removed to a safe distance and we could deplane passengers.Background of the day and offered as an explanation and not as an excuse; for the fault lies with myself.Several things happened that day to not only distract my focus but also to degrade my physical condition and awareness which led to my subsequent failure.On [a flight] earlier that same day when responding to someone hitting their flight attendant call light repeatedly while I was seated I stood up from jump seat to see what was required. They had turned it off by then and when I went to sit back down in my jump seat it had returned to its spring loaded upright position and instead of sitting in my jump seat I fell to the floor. The rest of the day was filled with discomfort as a result. I tried to fill out an incident report immediately however I was made to understand from the company website that I would need to use an actual computer as the reports were not supported by my handheld device. Dwelling on that and actively trying to physically avoid my number three as he was not feeling well and I didn't want to come down with something as I was already starting to feel unwell. The last few days had included many days of long flight hours and between the physical and mental strain of that and the stress of starting to get sick; I initiated actions that led to the incident.Specifically at the time of the incident I initiated all call procedures to disarm doors and deplane passengers. The flight attendants 2; 3; and 4 all accomplished their disarming per policy. At this time I also realized that the carts needed sealing with blue liquor seals.My door however was still armed. At that point; my number 3 flight attendant pointed to my door and in an attempt to shake me from my non focused state firmly said; 'you need to disarm your door.' I acknowledged him; turned towards my door and immediately gave the thumbs up for the station agent to open door 1L even though it was in the armed position.Between all the issues fighting for my focus at that time; I did not personally use the appropriate disarming procedures including monitor and challenge on my door even after I had crosschecked door 1R.I obviously did not have my focus where it belonged. I was hurting; trying to keep from getting more sick and feeling the effects of fatigue after several long flight hour days. While all of these things are true; the door was opened and slide fell out because I incorrectly initiated the process.I understand the importance of monitor and challenge procedures and I let my pain; distraction and illness take away my focus. The reality of the situation and the danger I put the station agent in is a big reality check that I will not soon forget. My job; when opening or closing a door always involves the monitor and challenge procedures and I intent to always make sure to using them completely to always succeed in my job when opening and closing aircraft doors.
B737 Flight Attendant reported that the entry door slide was not disarmed when customer service attempted to open the door.