Emergency Slide Question
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Emergency Slide Question
I wanted to ask some Techs here a question about the emergency slide on 747's.
We work in Catering and our employer wants us to wear a safety harness which has 2 lock attachements when opening aircraft doors, just incase we fall off the raised truck.
We questioned the safety side of things that if a emergency slide deployed when opening a door, we would be history, as you could not release your safety harness in time.
I know we are to check if the door shute is armed, but we just want to know, if one did go off if we would be crushed inside our truck.
I have heard reports of catering truck drivers in the USA that have been crushed to death by emergency slides that accidently deployed.
We have been told that with B737's, that the slide would have to fall about 15cm before it would deploy, this is going by the manual.
We want to know how far a B747 slide has to fall before it deploys, or would it deploy right away if it was in the armed position, or accidently going off, faulty ect ect.
Does anyone here have some facts, so we can tell our management that been tired up to a safety harness by 2 attachments is dangerous.
Thanks kindly
We work in Catering and our employer wants us to wear a safety harness which has 2 lock attachements when opening aircraft doors, just incase we fall off the raised truck.
We questioned the safety side of things that if a emergency slide deployed when opening a door, we would be history, as you could not release your safety harness in time.
I know we are to check if the door shute is armed, but we just want to know, if one did go off if we would be crushed inside our truck.
I have heard reports of catering truck drivers in the USA that have been crushed to death by emergency slides that accidently deployed.
We have been told that with B737's, that the slide would have to fall about 15cm before it would deploy, this is going by the manual.
We want to know how far a B747 slide has to fall before it deploys, or would it deploy right away if it was in the armed position, or accidently going off, faulty ect ect.
Does anyone here have some facts, so we can tell our management that been tired up to a safety harness by 2 attachments is dangerous.
Thanks kindly
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I'm by no means an expert, but what I do know is the slide pack weighs above the 130kg mark, as with all aircraft with outward opening doors, it would need to be at least as far open as the width of the slide pack on both sides to allow it to drop out. The way it was explained to me is, as you say with the 737, the pack must drop out sufficiently to pull the pin on the charge which inflates it.... my guess would be at least the 15cm as on the 737 and probably more for the 747 as the door is larger...
My particular manual doesn't specify a distance, but I have heard of the doors being inadvertently opened armed, and the pack not inflating as the slide pack was stopped before reaching that point. Not sure how your company could rectify this aside from having the truck platform at a height which would 'catch' the pack should it deploy...
Do you deal with just the one airline or many? Might be something your company needs to ask its clients for more information about, as well as looking at the procedure for who opens the door and when. 737 not so bad as you guys can actually see if the slide is engaged or not (if the door is cracked) Slightly more difficult with the types using arm/disarm levers, unless of course they are the type which automatically disarm when opened externally.
Speaking of emergency slides, this is slightly OT but I find the design on the A380 arming lever flawed (in my opinion) in that it shows green on the ends for both ARMED and DISARMED... surely a mistake waiting to happen for a tired CC??? Or are they trying to say green for in correct position for either mode, red for not fully armed/disarmed? I find it confusing to say the least!
PS- Im just a humble cc but bow to the knowledge of the experts here, so anything I've said wrong please inform me!!! :P
My particular manual doesn't specify a distance, but I have heard of the doors being inadvertently opened armed, and the pack not inflating as the slide pack was stopped before reaching that point. Not sure how your company could rectify this aside from having the truck platform at a height which would 'catch' the pack should it deploy...
Do you deal with just the one airline or many? Might be something your company needs to ask its clients for more information about, as well as looking at the procedure for who opens the door and when. 737 not so bad as you guys can actually see if the slide is engaged or not (if the door is cracked) Slightly more difficult with the types using arm/disarm levers, unless of course they are the type which automatically disarm when opened externally.
Speaking of emergency slides, this is slightly OT but I find the design on the A380 arming lever flawed (in my opinion) in that it shows green on the ends for both ARMED and DISARMED... surely a mistake waiting to happen for a tired CC??? Or are they trying to say green for in correct position for either mode, red for not fully armed/disarmed? I find it confusing to say the least!
PS- Im just a humble cc but bow to the knowledge of the experts here, so anything I've said wrong please inform me!!! :P
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I wanted to ask some Techs here a question about the emergency slide on 747's.
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The B747 (like all other aircraft) slide pack does have to drop about 30 cm before the slide will inflate, so if the catering truck is by the door the slide pack should just drop on to the truck.
On the B747 and most other aircraft (not B737) the door should automatically revert to manual or disarmed if the door is opened from the outside and the slide pack will not deploy.
The only reason the slide would deploy and inflate is if the door is opened in automatic / armed from the inside and the slide pack drops more than 30cm or so.
As for ice on the girt bar I have been flying for nearly 20 years and the only aircraft I've seen this happen is the Airbus A300-600 R and that was fixed by engineering using ice resistant grease around the girt bar. The door would not be able to be put back into manual / disarm initially but tended to defrost by the time the passengers had disembarked. The door would always be guarded and catering informed not to use the door.
In 14 years on the B747 I have never seen the girt bar ice up.
Hope this makes you feel more secure
On the B747 and most other aircraft (not B737) the door should automatically revert to manual or disarmed if the door is opened from the outside and the slide pack will not deploy.
The only reason the slide would deploy and inflate is if the door is opened in automatic / armed from the inside and the slide pack drops more than 30cm or so.
As for ice on the girt bar I have been flying for nearly 20 years and the only aircraft I've seen this happen is the Airbus A300-600 R and that was fixed by engineering using ice resistant grease around the girt bar. The door would not be able to be put back into manual / disarm initially but tended to defrost by the time the passengers had disembarked. The door would always be guarded and catering informed not to use the door.
In 14 years on the B747 I have never seen the girt bar ice up.
Hope this makes you feel more secure
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On most 'slide arm lever' doors it is impossible from the outside to tell if the girt bar has been fully retracted.
On the 757,767 and 747 the action of pressing the red "press" tab and/or external movement of the door handle (type depenent) disarms both the slide and the EPAS Gas bottle that blows the door open when armed.
As the cabin crew disarm the door they will run through a series of checks "cross checks" and a variety of visual cues will confirm if the door is disarmed or not. If there is any doubt when you knock on expect to see a thumbs down or no reply.
So far as distance to drop is concerned as far as I am aware the 757, 767 and 747 all have a distance of about 15-18" to drop before the pin is pulled and the slide inflated.
The 737 is the exception to all this as to arm the door simply is a matter of latching the girt bar (the bar that attaches the slide to the aircraft) into locking points in the door sill. if forgotten open the exit from the out side will still deploy the slide pack if not the slide as that has pin to pull like the other models.
On the 757,767 and 747 the action of pressing the red "press" tab and/or external movement of the door handle (type depenent) disarms both the slide and the EPAS Gas bottle that blows the door open when armed.
As the cabin crew disarm the door they will run through a series of checks "cross checks" and a variety of visual cues will confirm if the door is disarmed or not. If there is any doubt when you knock on expect to see a thumbs down or no reply.
So far as distance to drop is concerned as far as I am aware the 757, 767 and 747 all have a distance of about 15-18" to drop before the pin is pulled and the slide inflated.
The 737 is the exception to all this as to arm the door simply is a matter of latching the girt bar (the bar that attaches the slide to the aircraft) into locking points in the door sill. if forgotten open the exit from the out side will still deploy the slide pack if not the slide as that has pin to pull like the other models.
I think the main factor would be:
How many people have been injured by slides deploying versus how many people are killed by falling from height onto the ramp.
I would imagine that two or three are killed each year worldwide falling to the ramp, so protecting against that is more important than worrying about the sides.
How many people have been injured by slides deploying versus how many people are killed by falling from height onto the ramp.
I would imagine that two or three are killed each year worldwide falling to the ramp, so protecting against that is more important than worrying about the sides.
