Tristar Cabin Door - Escape
Thought police antagonist
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" Safety equipment does matter; I don't know of any operator who would think otherwise, nor would I wish to fly with them."
I know. That's why I ( and many others ) spent a lot of time checking the safety equipment every working day / night.And in this, rather entertaining event, as Nut Loose states, we don't actually know what preceeded the slide going "plop" in the way it did.
As for the "anti RAF"comment, well lets be honest. Plenty on here, past and present, make comments far more detrimental than the little and innocuous dig I made. The RAF is not immune from criticisms now is it...... and you have made a few yourself have you not ?
The point being that the RAF does have a well established propensity to over react at times and over engineer. In comparison to which, and I have worked in both worlds, the civilian world does not have the chain of command or manpower and places the responsibility for inspection / certification firmly on the Lic / approved engineer.
We tend to take this individual responsibility rather seriously, very seriously in fact.
This works quite well actually.
For Al Murdoch, when the slide in question was operated, thankfully there were no injuries in this instance. Interestingly enough, one UK operator used to insist an engineer inspected the doors of the 747-100/200 at the airbridge and confirm with the CC that the latch on the middle of the door was disengaged. Always thought this was nice way of saying engineers were "expendable"..... should it all go for a can of worms.
I know. That's why I ( and many others ) spent a lot of time checking the safety equipment every working day / night.And in this, rather entertaining event, as Nut Loose states, we don't actually know what preceeded the slide going "plop" in the way it did.
As for the "anti RAF"comment, well lets be honest. Plenty on here, past and present, make comments far more detrimental than the little and innocuous dig I made. The RAF is not immune from criticisms now is it...... and you have made a few yourself have you not ?
The point being that the RAF does have a well established propensity to over react at times and over engineer. In comparison to which, and I have worked in both worlds, the civilian world does not have the chain of command or manpower and places the responsibility for inspection / certification firmly on the Lic / approved engineer.
We tend to take this individual responsibility rather seriously, very seriously in fact.
This works quite well actually.
For Al Murdoch, when the slide in question was operated, thankfully there were no injuries in this instance. Interestingly enough, one UK operator used to insist an engineer inspected the doors of the 747-100/200 at the airbridge and confirm with the CC that the latch on the middle of the door was disengaged. Always thought this was nice way of saying engineers were "expendable"..... should it all go for a can of worms.
Last edited by Krystal n chips; 22nd Oct 2012 at 05:09.
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Thanks Krystal n Chips.
I think my irony was missed.
I've flown 3 holers of one flavour or another for about 20 years and thought that if "they" had check the Girt bar engagement, a part of said mechanism would actually have stayed with the aircraft thus deploy the slide. . .
I think my irony was missed.
I've flown 3 holers of one flavour or another for about 20 years and thought that if "they" had check the Girt bar engagement, a part of said mechanism would actually have stayed with the aircraft thus deploy the slide. . .
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I think this shows just how far the RAF has sunk.
Not the fact that the slide didn't deploy correctly, since as posted it may have been a cockup or it may have been decided it was safer to lob it outside than risk it going off and injuring someone.
What saddens me is that there was someone videoing it (no doubt on their mobile phone) and then posting it on youtube.
I know for a fact there's a sign at the entrance (both of them) saying photography is prohibited.
Has the CRO or PRO (or whoever it is gives permission for pictures or video taken on station) approved this to be released? Of course not, because they'd never allow it.
We all make mistakes, but washing our dirty linen in public always was, and always will be bad form. I do hope the JEngO in charge when this was recorded has been made aware and somebody got a one-way conversation...
Not the fact that the slide didn't deploy correctly, since as posted it may have been a cockup or it may have been decided it was safer to lob it outside than risk it going off and injuring someone.
What saddens me is that there was someone videoing it (no doubt on their mobile phone) and then posting it on youtube.
I know for a fact there's a sign at the entrance (both of them) saying photography is prohibited.
Has the CRO or PRO (or whoever it is gives permission for pictures or video taken on station) approved this to be released? Of course not, because they'd never allow it.
We all make mistakes, but washing our dirty linen in public always was, and always will be bad form. I do hope the JEngO in charge when this was recorded has been made aware and somebody got a one-way conversation...
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You think that's bad, look at the witch hunt that was pursued against the SAC on you tube.
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'True, but it doesn't exactly show the RAF as professionals does it.'
...Never though any different.
Many trips on the 'bridge and stays in the Gateway saw to that.
...Let along sucking of teeth when the Met says FEW.
...Never though any different.
Many trips on the 'bridge and stays in the Gateway saw to that.
...Let along sucking of teeth when the Met says FEW.
Glum,
No cameras ? There would be a LOT of flt crew in the nick !
Beags would like a cushion for your saddle ?
Careful, you could have some ones eye out !
No cameras ? There would be a LOT of flt crew in the nick !
Beags would like a cushion for your saddle ?
Careful, you could have some ones eye out !
Last edited by woptb; 23rd Oct 2012 at 08:49.
Surely if they meant the door to drop clear of the A/C (as somebody mentioned earlier..let it go in a safe place away from the A/C)..would they not have put something beneath to catch/protect it a bit?
Last edited by 622; 23rd Oct 2012 at 10:37.
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I suspect if they had expected it to fall out, they would have strapped it to the inside, since the pressure bottle doesn't fire until the slide is below the door sill.
Failing that, positioning aircraft steps or a loader outside would have caught the slide before it could fire, or at least prevented the drop which undoubtedly buggered the housing.
Not to worry eh, the taxpayer will foot the bill!
Failing that, positioning aircraft steps or a loader outside would have caught the slide before it could fire, or at least prevented the drop which undoubtedly buggered the housing.
Not to worry eh, the taxpayer will foot the bill!
OK everybody. Please watch the video again. Note the following points. The area under the door is completely clear. The filming is carried out from an area fwd and outboard of the expected slide deployment area. The slide was expected to deploy, not fall off. The laughter starts a few seconds after the slide pack hits the ground. A few seconds in which the spectators process what they have just seen, which is obviously not what they expected.
@ Glum:- I would suggest that the reason it was filmed is because a slide deployment is not something you see every day. It just happened to go spectacularly wrong.
@ Stuff:- Your suggestion that this is exactly what the engineers planned to do seems to me to be so far off the mark as to be laughable. I cannot imagine anyone who is entrusted with aircraft maintenance doing anything as foolish, dangerous and outright destructive as this.
I suspect the most likely course of events was a follows.
The girt bar was disengaged intentionally, as it was initially intended to remove the slide pack normally, and replace it. The decision was then taken that it would be safer to deploy the slide, remove it and then fit a replacement pack.
Slide deployment? Hey lets film that, we've never seen one before. Hence the audience outside.
Obviously the deployment was done incorrectly. Either through inexperience, distraction, or possibly interference from someone higher in the food chain, the slide was not returned to an operative condition prior to operating the door. Result, door opens, slide pack fall outboard as intended, slide backboard is not connected to the aircraft, lanyard does not operate to discharge the bottle. Entire slide pack falls to the ground in front of an initially stunned audience. It was a cock-up, plain and simple. Not a badly packed slide, not a design flaw, it was quite simply a case of not using the maintenance manual correctly, for whatever reason.
@ Beagle:- There are many engineers, technicians, mechanics or whatever you want to call us, reading this thread. We would never dream of telling you how to operate an aircraft. Neither would we accuse you of been a cavalier and dangerous individual who intentionally flew aircraft in a reckless manner with no thought or concern for others safety. Why? Because that was your job and we expected you to do it and do it well. It was not our place to tell you how to fly.
Please return the courtesy, and don't presume to tell us how to maintain and repair aircraft. That is our job, and our responsibility. And we take it very seriously.
Cock ups happen on the ground and in the air. At least this time no one was hurt, severely embarrassed I would imagine, but not hurt.
@ Glum:- I would suggest that the reason it was filmed is because a slide deployment is not something you see every day. It just happened to go spectacularly wrong.
@ Stuff:- Your suggestion that this is exactly what the engineers planned to do seems to me to be so far off the mark as to be laughable. I cannot imagine anyone who is entrusted with aircraft maintenance doing anything as foolish, dangerous and outright destructive as this.
I suspect the most likely course of events was a follows.
The girt bar was disengaged intentionally, as it was initially intended to remove the slide pack normally, and replace it. The decision was then taken that it would be safer to deploy the slide, remove it and then fit a replacement pack.
Slide deployment? Hey lets film that, we've never seen one before. Hence the audience outside.
Obviously the deployment was done incorrectly. Either through inexperience, distraction, or possibly interference from someone higher in the food chain, the slide was not returned to an operative condition prior to operating the door. Result, door opens, slide pack fall outboard as intended, slide backboard is not connected to the aircraft, lanyard does not operate to discharge the bottle. Entire slide pack falls to the ground in front of an initially stunned audience. It was a cock-up, plain and simple. Not a badly packed slide, not a design flaw, it was quite simply a case of not using the maintenance manual correctly, for whatever reason.
@ Beagle:- There are many engineers, technicians, mechanics or whatever you want to call us, reading this thread. We would never dream of telling you how to operate an aircraft. Neither would we accuse you of been a cavalier and dangerous individual who intentionally flew aircraft in a reckless manner with no thought or concern for others safety. Why? Because that was your job and we expected you to do it and do it well. It was not our place to tell you how to fly.
Please return the courtesy, and don't presume to tell us how to maintain and repair aircraft. That is our job, and our responsibility. And we take it very seriously.
Cock ups happen on the ground and in the air. At least this time no one was hurt, severely embarrassed I would imagine, but not hurt.
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The escape slide "girt bar" normally engages in the floor hooks when the door is closed, normally electrically and can then be selected to deploy or not when the door emergency T-handle is pulled from the inside.
However if you look closely from the start of the video you can see that the door is not fully closed (blue paint line out of alignment). This could cause the "girt bar" to partially engage and pull the slide pack from the door when opened but then allow it to fall free.
However if you look closely from the start of the video you can see that the door is not fully closed (blue paint line out of alignment). This could cause the "girt bar" to partially engage and pull the slide pack from the door when opened but then allow it to fall free.
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Avionker 
Bloody well said, especially the comments on the video.
As for mistakes occurring, as much as I have always 100% respected aircrew, enjoyed working with them very closely and gained their respect because of my ability to help generate aircraft quickly under pressure situations, the culture of “groundcrew made reckless cockups" and "aircrew made honest mistakes” always used to annoy me.
I also have to add that this culture did not normally come from the immediate aircrew off the Sqn, it generally came from the faceless people in ivory towers who had the better ability to put pen to paper rather than hand to throttle or tools to aircraft.
Bloody well said, especially the comments on the video.
As for mistakes occurring, as much as I have always 100% respected aircrew, enjoyed working with them very closely and gained their respect because of my ability to help generate aircraft quickly under pressure situations, the culture of “groundcrew made reckless cockups" and "aircrew made honest mistakes” always used to annoy me.
I also have to add that this culture did not normally come from the immediate aircrew off the Sqn, it generally came from the faceless people in ivory towers who had the better ability to put pen to paper rather than hand to throttle or tools to aircraft.
Last edited by SRENNAPS; 24th Oct 2012 at 07:35.
If the cause of the detached escape slide was immediately identificable as a one-off error, that's one thing.
But if there was the slightest likelihood of this having been caused by anything else, such as a more general servicing error, that's rather another. Which would surely require that all other TriStar escape slide assemblies should have been checked and the aircraft withdrawn from service until such inspection work had been completed and the aircraft cleared for use.
That's all.
But if there was the slightest likelihood of this having been caused by anything else, such as a more general servicing error, that's rather another. Which would surely require that all other TriStar escape slide assemblies should have been checked and the aircraft withdrawn from service until such inspection work had been completed and the aircraft cleared for use.
That's all.
Last edited by BEagle; 24th Oct 2012 at 21:01.
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Would appear someone must not have been happy with it being posted as it has gone.
Putting on a very battered ex-GFSO hat,was there a Unit Inquiry convened into the circumstances,as one of HM`s aircraft sustained damage..?I suspect not as the video was not impounded.....
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Sad Sods
In 20 years with a very large fleet Tristar airline we NEVER had a slide to this. NEVER. 
The slide is mounted in a bustle in the door.
The door has a huge coil spring retract mechanism for emergency retraction..
To arm the door and slide first close the door electrically and then a lever at the door frame is moved to the arm position by the attendant.
This moves a floor latch to link with the girt bar in the slide, and links the spring retractor to the door via the gearbox in the door mechanism.
The door is then opened by the tee handle in red which releases the retract spring and the door runs up the track, leaving the slide to be pulled out of its door shroud as it is attached AT THE FLOOR by the girt bar to the floor mount. The slide pivots and inflates normally.
The slide is mounted in a bustle in the door.
The door has a huge coil spring retract mechanism for emergency retraction..
To arm the door and slide first close the door electrically and then a lever at the door frame is moved to the arm position by the attendant.
This moves a floor latch to link with the girt bar in the slide, and links the spring retractor to the door via the gearbox in the door mechanism.
The door is then opened by the tee handle in red which releases the retract spring and the door runs up the track, leaving the slide to be pulled out of its door shroud as it is attached AT THE FLOOR by the girt bar to the floor mount. The slide pivots and inflates normally.
