Description

History shows that even current-generation evacuation slides require ongoing risk mitigation of several known functional issues. Aircraft crews involved in problematic evacuations may use terms such as “slide malfunction” or “slide failure” to describe what they experienced, but the survival factors analyses done during accident investigation tend to be more complicated.

In particular, on-scene conditions in a number of commercial air transport accidents — with winds exceeding regulatory requirements for aeroplane slide systems — proved to be a significant causal factor when slides did not deploy, inflate or stay in position as expected.

Other functional issues affecting evacuation slides, which are known in regulations as approved assist means, have involved the door and/or escape slide mechanism, the inflation system, external damage to air compartments of slides, and internal or external obstructions that cause abnormal slide operation.