Flight Attendant Current
Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Flight Crew Overcame Equipment Problem; General Physical Injury / Incapacitation
Aircraft
When we arrived at the aircraft we noticed a significant amount of what appeared to be the door seal hanging into the aircraft at 4L. We notified the pilots and one of the FOs (First Officers) came to inspect. He said it was already written up and it would be fine. When it came time to arm the doors the FA (Flight Attendant) responsible for this door was unable to arm it. Two other flight attendants attempted to arm the door. They were unsuccessful.One of the pilots was summoned and he was able to forcibly arm the door. He suggested that the door was difficult to arm because it was cold outside. He stated that the seal should not affect the arming of the door. Within a minute or two of taking off I noticed significant popping in my ears. I observed passengers attempting to clear their ears and showing signs of discomfort. Once we were able to get up and proceed to the galley we all began to comment how our ears were feeling. We also noticed that it was extremely cold near the 4L door. We decided to notify the purser and request the pilots be told. I went to the front galley to talk with the purser. She acknowledged that they were also feeling the same thing and she attempted to contact the pilots. Initially they did not respond to her call. When they called her back they stated that they had been busy because we were having pressurization issues and that we had almost diverted to our alternate airport.They said that the situation was under control and they would be manually controlling the pressure for the flight and that we would be flying at a lower altitude. Throughout the flight there were times when we noticed our ears popping and we would confirm with each other that we were feeling the same thing. The area around the 4L door continued to be extremely cold. No one sat in the 4L jump-seats during the flight because of the chilly temperature.During descent there was significant discomfort in my ears and I could see the passengers trying to clear their ears; pulling on their ears; and grimacing. Although we arrived uneventfully it was an uncomfortable flight for everyone and I felt unsafe. I don't know that the pressure problems had anything to do with the door; however it was an odd coincidence. I felt that the attitude toward the problem was cavalier.
B767 Flight Attendant reported problems with a door seal as well as aircraft pressurization issues in flight.