Five findings during the pre-flight cabin check

Sort by what each finding does to the safety of the cabin, not by how easy it is to fix.

Stops the departure unless engineering resolves it

• Aft left slide pressure in the red. An escape slide that is not at operating pressure cannot be relied on in the one situation it exists for. The cylinder is changed or the door is treated as unusable. The crew do not clear this; the engineer does and the commander accepts the aircraft.

Acceptable only within the MEL's stated conditions

• Lavatory smoke detector INOP. Read what the MEL actually requires - typically the lavatory locked out of use, or crew checks at defined intervals, plus no-smoking placards. If those conditions cannot be met on this flight, the aircraft does not go. That is a conversation with the commander, not crew discretion.

Operationally acceptable, but with seating consequences

• Seat 12A with a locked recline. The seat does not intrude on the egress path and is usable - but the exit-row rules still apply in full (see below).

A compliance shortfall, not a defect ticket

• Three infant life vests against four infants. Life-saving equipment is not a matter of best endeavours.

Crew role in all five: report every finding to the commander before boarding, in writing where your operator requires a cabin defect log, with exact readings and locations; then confirm what has been decided and what the resulting cabin configuration is. You do not self-approve, and you do not accept verbal reassurance without the paperwork.

The consequence is a change to the evacuation plan, not a shrug.

• That door is removed from the evacuation plan. It is placarded and blocked, and the area in front of it is kept clear.
• Seating around it changes: depending on your operator's MEL and configuration document, the adjacent seats - including exit-row seats that depend on that door - may not be occupied. Passengers already allocated there are reseated, and anyone who paid for an exit-row seat is dealt with under the conditions of carriage.
• The passenger safety briefing changes: the aft left door is not an exit, and the crew must tell the passengers seated in that zone where their nearest usable exit now is.
• You brief your own crew: the aft right door and the overwing exits take that traffic; name who is responsible for redirecting passengers at the blocked door.

Passenger numbers. Maximum occupancy depends on the number of usable exits. If the MEL or the configuration document requires a reduced load, that is the operator's and commander's decision, and boarding should not proceed until it is settled. The cabin crew's job is to make sure the decision is actually made before the door closes, not to assume the flight is going because the engineer signed something.

Record it. Cabin defect log, commander informed at what time, what was decided, what was briefed. If anything goes wrong later, that record is the difference between a professional judgement and an omission.

Seat 12A - exit row rules in full

• The locked recline does not affect the exit, so the seat may be used, provided the seat does not project into the egress path when upright and the exit handle and route are clear.
• Seat there only an able-bodied, willing adult who can understand the briefing. Not an infant or child, not a passenger with a disability who would need assistance, not someone you cannot brief in a language they understand. Never the POC user and never a wheelchair passenger.

POC passenger

• The device must be one the operator approves, and any medical clearance or notification the operator requires must be in place before boarding.
• Seat the passenger where the device does not obstruct the aisle or block an exit - not in an exit row.
• Batteries: 90 Wh each is under the 100 Wh spare limit, so four may be carried in the cabin - but spares must be protected against short circuit and must stay in the cabin, never the hold.
• Duration: the operator's rule is normally battery for at least 150% of the planned flight time - around 7.5 hours here plus taxi. Four 90 Wh packs only satisfy that if the manufacturer's stated duration at the prescribed setting covers it. Check the label and the manual, not the passenger's assurance. If it does not cover it, the passenger cannot travel on that basis; the airline does not supply oxygen for POC use.

Infant life vests - 4 infants, 3 vests

• Each infant needs a vest, the spares are in addition, and every infant must be held by an adult with a loop belt, never in an exit row.
• A shortfall is a compliance failure. Resolve it before departure: serviceable vests from stores, or offload/rebook one infant - a decision for the commander and ground staff. Never substitute an adult vest for an infant, and never "make do".
• Record the shortfall, the decision and the time.