I agree with paying attention to what they have to say....but......when all the indications in the cockpit are normal and everything "looks good" how are you going to explain to the passengers, your chief, your airline that...."we decided to turn back/divert because we heard a weird noise that turned out to be nothing"
In this case it turned out to be a missing panel, but if I turned around and diverted every time I heard a weird noise I would be having a lot of explaining to do.
Just my 2 cents

I wasn't saying they should have turned around, just agreeing with the point that good pilots consider all information available to them. Also, I don't think the pilots would have been in any trouble for returning to the field, even if there turned out to be nothing wrong.

I find it funny that people here are bashing the F/A's for a time when in fact their concerns were correct.

It's just that 9 out of 10 times their "concerns" are BS.

Sorry about that........I meant to put in my previous post that I understood you weren't saying that but I forgot.
And I agree with you that good pilots consider all information....
My thoughts aren't translating well into what I type. I think Packer Backer put it best though, what he said is what my line of thinking is:)

I'm not trying to bash F/A's. As a former Captain I used to take all their information in as best as I could. Packer Backer put it best with his post above.

I know there may be that "one" time but like I said previously, if all indications are normal, and the plane is handling like normal, then everything should be "fine".
I apologize for coming across as bashing FA's:o

It was DFW to CDG Paris. In Paris if you do not get a gate. The pax are offloaded and then the crew bus picks us up at the nose of the aircraft.
That is the way it is done in Paris. I don't argue.
After the pax were gone, while getting their bags loaded on the crew bus, some FA's went over and snapped pics on their cams and cellphones.

The info put out to all American pilots was that the Captain sent the extra co-pilot back to investigate. The CA also got dispatch and Tulsa Tech (out MX Center) on a phone patch. Everything looked and felt normal, decided to press on as they had 3+ hours till Coast out with many Airports to land at before Coast out.
The CA even went back to investigate.
Upon landing ground control toold them they were missing a panel.
It was the pack cover. A 4' by 2.5' panel.

At the layover hotel a New York based CA told the FA's that it was totally unsafe to continue.
The FA's began writing e-mails telling and insinuating that the CA never ever asked them anything. And that he disregarded their pleas to return to DFW. The CA's report says he spoke with the FA's both on the flightphone at time of incident and before coast out in person in the cabin.

The decision was based on no other unsafe indications. They would have had to dump all center fuel (767 can only dump center fuel) they had approx 80,000 lbs in center tank at time. And there were many airports to divert to along the planned route before coasting out.

That's all I know about it.
7576

Also in Paris CDG even if you get a gate, you then walk down the stairway to the waiting crew bus and go straight to the Hotel (un chambre pour un nuit).
You fill out the hotel registration form which is mostly interested in if you have
smoking material. (Cigarettes)
No custom forms at all. Get on bus straight to hotel.

I definitely think you should take your FA's concerns into consideration. There have been many instances when airplanes struck things while taxiing on the ground and the pilots never even noticed. 300,000 lbs of airplane striking a small 3000 lb vehicle with a wing that's 100 feet away could go completely unnoticed to the pilots in the cockpit, but the FA's might notice. The same can be said for strong vibrations in the rear of the airplane.

So do they call the cockpit and say "stop, we are about to hit that commo truck"? Not really following you here man