Summary
- Accidental slide deployments during flights are rare but can occur, posing a risk to crew and passengers.
- Proper arming and disarming of slides is important for passenger safety during emergencies.
- Despite incidents, flying stays the safest mode of transport, partly because of safety measures like inflatable evacuation slides.
On February 3, Flight BA886 was scheduled to depart London Heathrow (LHR) at 09:55, certain for Bucharest (OTP), when it suffered an incident. The aircraft, an Airbus A320-200 registered G-EUUB, was unable to finish the flight after the captain mistakenly activated the emergency slide while opening the door.
The Sun initially reported the incident, saying that the captain had opened the door to pass documentation to ground crew. Nonetheless, other outlets have subsequently reported that the overhead bins were full, and the door was opened to pass suitcases to the crew loading bags into the hold.
Regardless of the circumstances, it’s a reasonably grave error on the a part of the pilot, and never something you’d expect a captain to get mistaken. In keeping with the Sun, the pilot has been suspended from duties in the intervening time.
In an announcement, British Airways told Easy Flying.
We apologized to customers for the delay and arranged a substitute aircraft to make sure they were capable of proceed their journey.
BA’s engineers examined and repaired the plane; it later returned to service when it was determined it was fit to fly.
Five incidents in only over a 12 months
It is not the primary time British Airways has had an unexpected slide deployment affect its operations. In reality, it is the fifth time this has happened in a bit of over a 12 months.
In January, BA flight 136, linking London Heathrow with Mumbai (BOM), also suffered an accidental deployment of the slides because the cabin manager gave an impromptu lesson on the best way to operate the aircraft door. Also in January, a Boeing 777 had its emergency slide open inadvertently because the aircraft was preparing to take off to Lagos.
Other incidents took place last 12 months, and while it is not common for slides to be deployed in error, BA appears to be having a little bit of a time of it.
Accidental slide activations will be very costly to airlines. This week’s event is reported by the Sun to have cost the airline around £50,000 ($63,000). The associated fee of inflating a slide is often nearer $30,000 and includes repacking the slide, which might cost upwards of $12,000, and the fee of additional safety repairs and checks. Nonetheless, the actual price tag may vary between each aircraft type.
Photo: Mario Hagen | Shutterstock
![Airbus emergency slide](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/screenshot-2022-12-26-at-10-31-31.png)
How Much Can Unintentional Slide Deployments Cost Airlines?
Unintentional slide deployment costs airlines as much as $30,000.
Other slide mishaps
Although accidental slide deployments remain rare, they’re amongst essentially the most frequent incidents affecting a flight.
Last 12 months, the same incident affected a Delta Boeing 767 when N189DN, en route from Recent York’s JFK Airport to Los Angeles, diverted to Salt Lake City following a technical issue. Once on the bottom, the emergency evacuation slide was unintentionally deployed. Unfortunately, a crew member was taken to hospital, injured by the device’s activation. There have been no injuries among the many passengers.
Even a superjumbo once had this occur on the bottom at Manchester Airport on December 20, 2020
![Emirates Airbus A380](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/emirates-airbus-a380-388-a6-euc-2.jpg)
Emirates Airbus A380 Slide Inflates With Jet Bridge Attached In Manchester
An Emirates A380 had a slide deploy while on the gate, potentially damaging the aircraft.
A significant piece of apparatus.
“Cabin crew, arm doors for departure”; this sentence is heard on every business flight. The crew must manually attach the slides to the door, as on the famous Boeing 737, or set them up mechanically on the Airbus A320. To arm them appropriately is important for passenger safety because the equipment provides a protected escape route in an emergency.
Photo: Airbus
They’re the quickest way out of an aircraft, which have to be evacuated in lower than 90 seconds within the case of an accident. Their use can affect the consequence for passengers. Japan Airlines flight 516 is a first-rate example of the correct use of the evacuation route. All passengers survived as not only did the flight attendants arm the doors adequately, but passengers also followed their instructions when using the escape. Passengers only suffered minor bruises from the friction despite the plane being declared a hull loss.
![An Aircraft evacuation slide.](https://static1.simpleflyingimages.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/shutterstock_134480810.jpg)
How Do Emergency Slides Work On Airplanes?
A transient summary of certainly one of the important thing safety features of airplanes.
The slides may also be dangerous for flight attendants. They inflate rapidly; gas from the canister within the compartment where the device is stored moves through the aspirators quickly, making a vacuum. Air then passes into aspirators through louvers, which close once the slide is fully inflated. This whole process happens inside seconds. If the slide has not been adequately disarmed on the gate, the activation may surprise the crew and even injure them, like on the Delta flight above.
Overall, these incidents remain extremely rare, as cabin crew and pilots alike prepare the cabin for it to be protected and comfy before every flight. Thanks, partly, to the inflatable equipment, flying stays the safest technique of transport available today.