Delta jet slides into grass at snowy Detroit airport
 

The official kickoff of winter ops in the region. 'Tis the season

Great to see that everyone managed to get out with their bags.

Normally I would agree with your unstated sentiment, FWF, but in this case they just slid off the taxiway. There was no emergency evac, no fire, no break-up, no slides, so no reason not to disembark in an orderly fashion with one's belongings?

PS, Do MD's even have slides, being quite close to the ground?

Fair Weather Flyer, engage brain before opening mouth. Passengers waited in the aircraft until steps and buses arrived for an orderly disembarkation.

"PS, Do MD's even have slides, being quite close to the ground?"

Yes they do. 1L, 1R, 2L and tailcone. And the drill to get the rear jumpseat out of the way, get the tailcone off the aircraft, deploy the slide and get the walkway into position is a real drama!

The aft stairs on the MD80's and the DC9 series could be used as normal exits.
I never flew the aircraft, but I have seen them being used in remote locations.
I did fly the B727 and I know we used the aft stairs in some situations.
They came in handy for last minute jump seaters!!;)

HT, you are aware the MD-88 has it's own airstairs behind the aft cabin door, right? If not you can always check the photo :ugh:

the tailcone seems to be intact in the photo; these passengers are using airstairs, not an emergency exit, are they not? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

The photo has been taken from the doorway of the bus that was sent out to pick up the passengers, who were waiting inside the aircraft for the bus which was sent out to get them after the pilots made the decision to ask for the bus to come, then a contracted bus driver to be found, told where to go, and then drive out on the taxiways to get them - all the while the passengers with sitting in their seats.

Given the above sequence is likely to take in excess of 15 minutes, there's plenty of time to get some bags.

"the tailcone seems to be intact in the photo; these passengers are using airstairs, not an emergency exit, are they not? Please correct me if I'm wrong."

You're right - the tailcone is intact in this photo. However when it IS used as emergency exit the cone gets jettisoned. Opening the rear cabin door, when armed, will send it on its way. When it is not armed it can just be opened as in this photo.

If I remember correctly, DL's MD88's make the tailcone fall by gravity, while the MD90's have a some kind of "charge" that helps them on their way, although it's been a few years - my memory could be fading on that point.

Following up on that - I should probably also say that when it's used as an emergency exit, i.e. when the door is armed, the tailcone gets jettisoned and an inflatable slide comes out. Part of the drill I referred to earlier to deploy this is to make sure the stairs (that are in this picture) are out of the way. The question was whether the MD's had slides - yes they do, one of which is at the back. But you're right - it is not being used in the photos.

SLFstu, yes I do, but I don't see your point. My point was that it was not an emergency evacuation but a disembarkation, hence the reason passengers came off with bags. So, :ugh: to you too!