Date: 201906
Local time of day: 0601-1200
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Aircraft: A320
Operator: Air Carrier
Operating under: Part 121
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Passenger
Flight phase: Cruise
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: Flight Attendant (On Duty)
Reporter qualification: Flight Attendant Current
Human factors: Physiological - Other; Situational Awareness
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Illness / Injury; Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Smoke / Fire / Fumes / Odor
Detector: Person Flight Attendant
When detected: In-flight
Result: General None Reported / Taken
Contributing factors: Aircraft; Human Factors
Primary problem: Aircraft

Narrative: I was the Number 2 in the back. After landing back in ZZZ I got a call from my Number 1. She called after making her welcome to ZZZ announcements asking me if I smelt a strange odor in the cabin. That it was an extremely strong rubber/plastic smell in the front of the cabin. I told her I hadn't smelt anything at the time and I was chewing mint gum so that was all I could taste/smell. I walked through the cabin and when I got about half way the smell hit me in the face. It smelled of burning plastic and it was strong. After the passengers finished deplaning the smell was in the aft of the aircraft. It was so strong myself and the Number 4 in the back had to put our scarves over our noses to help deflect the strong odor. I began feeling lightheaded and wanted to get off the aircraft. We informed the Captain and all he said was going to inform maintenance. Before we could get off the aircraft the Captain had left. We are guessing he let maintenance know but I am not a hundred percent sure. So because no one seemed concerned we assumed maybe what we smelled and how we felt was just from getting up early. In ZZZ and I took Tylenol for the migraine and sore throat I was having. I did not feel great but I figured if I ate and drank water after taking medicine my throat and head would ease off. However; it didn't; I still felt under the weather but since it wasn't made a huge deal I knew I could push through and work the final 2 legs a ZZZ1 turn. We got onto flight XXX from ZZZ - ZZZ1 my Number 1 let Captain know what had happened earlier in the day and asked each of us if we were OK to fly; the other 2 and I agreed we didn't feel great; but we wanted to be paid and not get a sick point since our Number 4 had a fume event less than a week ago and had received a sick point for that as well. As a team we agreed we were going to push through. During the flight after service our Number 4 became ill. I saw in her actions she was lethargic and feeling very nauseous. She asked me for some ginger ale and went to the restroom. She was in there for some time. You could see in her face she was not feeling well. I called the Number 1 up front and let her know what was going on with [Number 4]. Once we landed in ZZZ1; I'm guessing [Number 1] informed our Captain on what had happened and informed our Captain for the return flight what was going on. Captain called us all to the front of the aircraft for briefing. He reprimand us a bit after finding out we did not seek medical attention. We explained why we didn't and because our Number 4 was still feeling very ill he didn't feel she was fit to fly; so he called the paramedics to come and have us checked out because our health was his main priority. He said he had our backs and would do anything we needed because our health was first priority. We explained to him we wanted to work our last leg and we could push through because we did not want a sick point or have the flight cancel. I spoke up and said we will take the medical evaluation; and after they check our vitals and OK us to fly we would like to finish our last leg. So the paramedics along with firefighters met us on the aircraft and checked our oxygen levels as well as pulse; and blood pressure. The oxygen in my blood was a little low but it was good enough to pass. We all signed paperwork and they asked us if we needed to be taken to the ER. We called [name] to let her know what was going on. And the medics cleared us to fly so we flew our last leg home. I do apologize that we did not seek medical attention right away; but since it was not made a huge deal we all thought we would be fine. The last leg of our flight was delayed and crew scheduling called us to ask us why we had not boarded and we told them we were being checked out by the medical examiner.




Synopsis: A320 Flight Attendant reported a fume event in the cabin which resulted in cabin crew experiencing health issues.