EZboy, no one will argue that blowing a slide is
nearly always the fault of the FA.
Which still leaves us with the industry wide problem of (a too frequent occurance of) inadvertent slide deployment.
A blown slide is terribly inconvenient for the pax that get left behind, it's dangerous for the people outside the AC, expensive for the airline and traumatic for the FA concerned.
All good reasons to look a bit further than just 'fairly and squarely appointing the blame'.
ZQA297/30 writes words of wisdom
a few pages back:
Routine operations that become "non-standard" due to interruption, distraction, or other change are always fertile ground for "oopses".
This applies universally to all humans, cockpit, cabin, or ground variety. The phenomenon is exacerbated by fatigue, boredom, or stress. Sh*t happens.
Studies on safety of cockpit operation show time and time again that where humans work, mistakes
will be made. Despite good training, alertness and concentration. Making mistakes is in our nature.
So effective prevention of accidents needs to first acknowledge this simple fact instead of chasing the unnattainable goal of zero mistakes. Only then can we start to look for ways to catch these mistakes before their ultimate conclusion.
I think that there is room for improvement in the industry on the score of ISD prevention. Design has been mentioned here, and it's a very valid point. Far too many systems have an FA make the same directional movement to disarm the slide as to open the door. However different a lever and a door handle might look, as long as the movement is the same, it's just not smart design.
Another factor might be ground staff.
In our mob, the most frequently blown slide is the one on the first RH door of the 747. The door that is generally used for catering. Catering staff often starts to knock on the door as soon as the AC is standing still. Not because they are pushy bastards but because they have a very limited time to accomplish a very large job.
An FA tired after a long flight is apparently to prone to 'forgetting' procedures when under 'knocking pressure' from outside. Room for improvement again.
In some airlines the 'disarm slides' call is made by the CSD/Purser, in others it's always from the cockpit. Has a comparison ever been made between the incidence of ISD in these 2 different sytems?
I think if people smarter than me would really study this, quite a few more improvable factors would turn up.