Airliner escape slide 'inflates in mid-air

[aidanf]

From: http://www.breakingnews.ie/text/story.asp?j=121592940&p=yzy5934x9&n=121593439&x=

Haven't seen it on pprune yet, and strikes as bizarre if accurate

A United Airlines plane made an emergency landing when an emergency slide apparently inflated in mid-air.
United spokeswoman Megan McCarthy said today she did not know whether the slide deployed in the air or after the emergency landing, adding that an investigation was underway.
But a passenger told KGW-TV in Portland, Oregon, that the inflatable slide rolled out while the jet was in the air yesterday.
The Denver, Colorado-bound Boeing 757 returned to Portland after about 30 minutes into the flight.
McCarthy said an indicator light had showed that an inflatable emergency slide had deployed.
There are eight slides on the plane and the one that deployed was located over one of the jet’s wings at an emergency exit, she said. The exit door did not open.
The flight was carrying 189 people, including 182 passengers, airport spokesman Steve Johnson said. :uhoh:

[Kalium Chloride]

McCarthy said an indicator light had showed that an inflatable emergency slide had deployed.

That's a little different from the slide actually deploying - will await confirmation with interest.

[barit1]

Overwing exit per this story (http://www.katu.com/stories/85965.html)

[hetfield]

Happened to A321 as well (two times?).

[captjns]

IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: UAL364 Make/Model: B757 Description: B-757
Date: 05/17/2006 Time: 0908

Event Type: Incident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Unknown

LOCATION
City: PORTLAND State: OR Country: US

DESCRIPTION
UNITED AIRLINES, UAL364, A BOEING 757 ACFT, WHILE ON DEPARTURE, THE LEFT
WING SLAT FAILED TO RETRACT AND THE EMERGENCY SLIDE ON THE LEFT WING
DEPLOYED BUT DID NOT INFLATE, ACFT RETURNED AND LANDED WITHOUT INCIDENT,
PORTLAND, OR

INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: U
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: U
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA

Departed: PORTLAND, OR Dep Date: Dep. Time:
Destination: DENVER, CO Flt Plan: Wx Briefing:
Last Radio Cont:
Last Clearance:

FAA FSDO: PORTLAND, OR (NM09) Entry date: 05/18/2006

[Few Cloudy]

There is no point in a slide deploying at such a height.

It is still a big drop to the ground... :)

Suggest fitting abseil equipment overwing instead!

Seriously though... Nasty moment for the crew - until
they got it down and could survey the damage. Tends
to wake you up, that sort of thing.

[captjns]

There is no point in a slide deploying at such a height.

It is still a big drop to the ground... :)

Suggest fitting abseil equipment overwing instead!

Seriously though... Nasty moment for the crew - until
they got it down and could survey the damage. Tends
to wake you up, that sort of thing.

There was no damage... the slide deployed without inflating. The emergency slide housing may have dislodged, thus causing the slide to fall and unfurl.

The actual problem was a slat on the left side of the aircraft failed to retract. The front end may have asked a F/A to visually check to see if the slat was still in the extended position. In doing so the F/A may have leaned on the slide housing causing it dislodge itself.

[jondc9]

very interesting theory about how inspecting for the left slat problem compounded the problem by releasing the slide.

I don't imagine that boeing tested the flying qualities of the plane with the slide hanging out...but if,just if, the relative wind moved the slide and it released hitting and wrapping around the horizontal fin, wow!

murphy's law has been proven again.

j

[Gauteng Pilot]

Didnt South African Airways have a problem with some overwing escapes poping on their first A340-600's ?

I seem to recall 1 poped in the air shortly after takeoff and there were a number of pics showing the missing panel where the escape was

And another one poped on the ground

???

[captjns]

very interesting theory about how inspecting for the left slat problem compounded the problem by releasing the slide.

I don't imagine that boeing tested the flying qualities of the plane with the slide hanging out...but if,just if, the relative wind moved the slide and it released hitting and wrapping around the horizontal fin, wow!

murphy's law has been proven again.

j

Slide was not on the exterior, but on the interior.

[henry crun]

"the horizontal fin".
Is that the surface next to the vertical tailplane ? :confused:

[jondc9]

capt jns

then how did the slide get outside the plane?

horizontal fin...have you ever heard the elevators called, "flippers"?

j

[etrang]

Slide was not on the exterior, but on the interior.

I believe it was on the exterior.

[blueloo]

I think you will find that the overwing slide of 767/757 is stowed in a recess on the outside of the aircraft just above the wing/below the overwing exit. When activated, the door flops open, and slide pops out and inflates.

It is not stored on the inside, and therefore an F/A couldnt lean againts it and deploy it (as opposed to the main exit slideraft door bustle).

[glhcarl]

I remember Air Canada having a lot of problems with the over wing slide when they first put 767's in to service. It seemed like they were losing a slide a week.
As for the "horiziontal fin" I worked with a guy who called them "the little wings in back".

[BUMPFF]

Closer to home, in the 90s a 747 dumped its LH off-wing slide almost onto the M25 just after TO from LHR. Fortuntely it missed, only by a few yards, and landed in a lorry park at Colnbrook. The incident was recorded in an amateur movie and shown on nationwide TV.

[Re-entry]

There has been a similar incident of a 10-man life raft deploying on a 747 freighter during cruise. The noise created led the operating crew to believe there were 'bad guys' on board - until they spotted the balloon.

[eticket]

http://www.micom.net/oops/rubber_02.jpg

:eek:

http://www.micom.net/oops/rubber_02.jpg

[patrickal]

With regerds to the deployed chute, what are the odds of maintaining control of the aircraft if it did wrap around a horizontal stabilizer? Nice thought.

[sinala1]

You have to wonder how many drinks were spilled when this happened?

If it had happened inflight, I would imagine erm more than one pair of soiled pants! :ooh: It actually happened on the ground (with no pax on board) when the GingerBeers were removing the liferafts from the a/c - unfortunately (unbeknownst to the engineers) the inflation line got caught on a seat as they were carrying the raft down the aisle :ouch: