That seems like a plausible explanation William. That would explain why the left door was opened with no slide when I reached it. If it had been opened by a pax then they would not have known to check if the slide was set to automatic. If the pilots had deemed that the ground equipment on the left was too close, it may have been possible for them to disable the manual inflation too, but I'm not sure about this. This would explain why the ccm that came to the door could also not get the slide inflated. However, it seems that, like me, she was unaware that the pilots had said the evacuation was only to be on the right side and it doesn't explain why there wasn't already a crewmember at the door. By the time she arrived, I think the right overwing was already opened.
Last edited by Potential; 14th Jul 2009 at 15:15.