Inadvertent Slide Deployments

[AP Tech]

all of our slides automatically inflate when the door is armed and opened.

Key word there is "automatically", there have been instances when they do do inflate, but rather just flop out the door. As for removing the pin on the "armed" lever, word is they are trying to standardize the fleet. Bad idea!!!!! Pretty tough for catering to blow a slide, they open the doors from the outside and they are automatically disarmed. Its the F/A's job to disarm the doors before leaving the a/c.

 

[desertgal]

ussnark, NO I am most certainly NOT accusing someone of intentionally popping a slide!
The fact is it happened.
A FA opened a 737 1L door that was armed, the slide inflated into the jetway and injured a GA that was there who then went to the hospital.
Not sure of the extent of injury.
A horrible accident to be sure, but still the fault of the FA, as well as the FA who did not verify the door.

Since the beginning of the calendar year there have been 7 ISDs attributed to FAs.
I'm going from memory but I believe it was 5 PHL, 1 DCA, and 1 PHX.

The PHX ISD was also the fault of the FA.
It was a 'reopen' situation where the FA was alone in the fwd galley area of a 319 or 320. The FA was notified that the GA or ops guy needed to reenter the ac.
The FA did not use proper disarm procedure and in fact also opened the door which is not procedure for airbus.

West 319/320 no longer have locking pins.
They were eliminated early on to simplify the disarm procedure.
Locking the door to a disarmed position was a relatively meaningless procedure.

And, travelpro, yes. I definitely agree with you that it should be the A FA disarming and the C FA verifying.
Makes more sense to me that way too.
But, thats they way they wrote it and I didn't ask why.
I just learned it and perform it each arrival.
I haven't noticed much trouble w/fone cords.
And, hand to God, when I am at a door alone I perform the procedure verbatim outloud.
For sure I ain't gonna be the one to pop a slide!
I can tell you I would bawl and then be sick.

 

[Pi brat]

ussnark, NO I am most certainly NOT accusing someone of intentionally popping a slide!
The fact is it happened.
A FA opened a 737 1L door that was armed, the slide inflated into the jetway and injured a GA that was there who then went to the hospital.
Not sure of the extent of injury.
A horrible accident to be sure, but still the fault of the FA, as well as the FA who did not verify the door.

Since the beginning of the calendar year there have been 7 ISDs attributed to FAs.
I'm going from memory but I believe it was 5 PHL, 1 DCA, and 1 PHX.

The PHX ISD was also the fault of the FA.
It was a 'reopen' situation where the FA was alone in the fwd galley area of a 319 or 320. The FA was notified that the GA or ops guy needed to reenter the ac.
The FA did not use proper disarm procedure and in fact also opened the door which is not procedure for airbus.

West 319/320 no longer have locking pins.
They were eliminated early on to simplify the disarm procedure.
Locking the door to a disarmed position was a relatively meaningless procedure.

And, travelpro, yes. I definitely agree with you that it should be the A FA disarming and the C FA verifying.
Makes more sense to me that way too.
But, thats they way they wrote it and I didn't ask why.
I just learned it and perform it each arrival.
I haven't noticed much trouble w/fone cords.
And, hand to God, when I am at a door alone I perform the procedure verbatim outloud.
For sure I ain't gonna be the one to pop a slide!
I can tell you I would bawl and then be sick.

I'm not a F/A, but removing the pin seems like a mistake. It would be very easy to rearm the door by bumping into it. Not for me to say though.

 

[US1YFARE]

hot passenger in 1D

i'll try not to distract you in the future B)

 

[desertgal]

I'm not a F/A, but removing the pin seems like a mistake. It would be very easy to rearm the door by bumping into it. Not for me to say though.

Well, I think mebbe that was the original thinking of the AC designers.

But, since its delivery, the Airbus has had a super-high number of ISDs and it was widely believed to be the design motion of the disarm lever and the operating handle.
It was the same at every airline who had them.
So, it was decided the far more important task was finding ways to prevent the ISDs that were happening like crazy, while I don't think there was ever a report of a door being rearmed by accident.
And it dosen't seem like it could happen very easily.

Since west implemented the monitor/challenge, FA ISDs dropped DRAMATICALLY, and infact, only occurred at the aft doors on the 319/320 where the FA was supposed to be performing the procedure alone.
I beleive this recent 1L ISD by the PHX FA is the first FWD door ISD since implementing the procedure.

 

[Career Reserve]

There were two more ISDs recently on PHL based crews I believe.
I'm curious about the 737 1L ISD that injured the gate agent.
Do any FAs know what discipline if any was handed out to the FA who sent the GA to the hospital?
We all recently received the memo stating minumum 3days off w/o pay would be the starting point.

May 26th E-Line mentioned one of our members received a 10 day suspension after it was attributed to him/her.
I am not sure which one of the deployments it was concerning.

 

[desertgal]

May 26th E-Line mentioned one of our members received a 10 day suspension after it was attributed to him/her.
I am not sure which one of the deployments it was concerning.

Thanks carreer for anawering my original question!

I would like to comment on behalf of the FA training department.
Since the merger was announced, the East and West training departments have been working 100% together on not only integrating the programs, but also training the FAs.
Each integration class is taught by both an East and West instructor.
The East instructors come in from CLT and PHX instructors go over to CLT.
Its been GREAT to help demystify the 'other side' for us and help explain the whys and hows.
ALL my CLT instructors have been WONDERFUL and done an awesome job.
The training department is truly integrated and has been for some time.

 

[flybynite]

From what I've heard, those ISD's were about a month or so ago. One was a 737 & the other was a AB321.

I'm not sure where the 737 incedent happened but I think the AB321 happened in Tampa. Please don't quote me on this . I may have it backwards. :huh:

 

[isthisok]

For HP at least its usually catering that blows slides on the airbuses, its rare to see one blown on the 737/757's for some reason. Its usually not the fa's fault.

On the East if you open an airbus door from the outside it is automatically disarmed. The only way catering can blow a slide is if they knock it off the brackets with alot of force and I have never heard of one done by US catering. Its almost always the flight attendants fault. Plus HP catering is not USAirways catering. US caterers are professionals and know what they are doing. Sounds like HP needs inhouse catering.

 

[ussnark]

ussnark, NO I am most certainly NOT accusing someone of intentionally popping a slide!
The fact is it happened.
A FA opened a 737 1L door that was armed, the slide inflated into the jetway and injured a GA that was there who then went to the hospital.
Not sure of the extent of injury.
A horrible accident to be sure, but still the fault of the FA, as well as the FA who did not verify the door.

Since the beginning of the calendar year there have been 7 ISDs attributed to FAs.
I'm going from memory but I believe it was 5 PHL, 1 DCA, and 1 PHX.

The problem is, my dear, you accused that FA of injuring a fellow employee. You said, the unnamed FA, "sent the GA" to the hospital. That is a pretty clear cut accusatory statement. Now you say it is the "fault of a FA, as well as the FA who did not verify..." with no prior knowledge of the circumstances of the incident you have judged and sentenced not one but two FAs.

You are a walking, talking demonstration why Tempe is so screwed up. Youare so messed up, I would put you off without question. To call you a drama queen would be to assert intelligence you clearly do not possess.

 

[desertgal]

On the East if you open an airbus door from the outside it is automatically disarmed. The only way catering can blow a slide is if they knock it off the brackets with alot of force and I have never heard of one done by US catering. Its almost always the flight attendants fault. Plus HP catering is not USAirways catering. US caterers are professionals and know what they are doing. Sounds like HP needs inhouse catering.

Yes, all Airbus disarm from the outside so it is the same on the west.

Are you saying catering in East hubs is performed by USAirways employees?
I was not aware of this.
I know for certain that in PHX, USAirways East planes are catered by contract.
I also assume that most field stations are also contract.

It is true that a portion of ISDs are classified as catering, but it still comes back to the FA who did not disarm the door.
A catering ISD usually happens from the INSIDE when a caterer on an unoccupied ac opens a door from the inside to access the truck on the outside, and the slide is not disarmed.

Contract caterers are not generally considered "professionals".
Tho since 9-11 their pool has shrunk and I pretty much see the same guys in PHX I've been seeing for years.
So I have confidence in them.
I guess mebbe they ARE professional ac caterers.
Occassioanlly you see the new guy in all cities who is clueless.
Not sure how much training they get, and they deal with every ac type out there.

The other group that is at risk for ISD is MX.
Altho we have a legendary incident out west involving a SAN station employee.
Of course, it always comes back to the FA.

The problem is, my dear, you accused that FA of injuring a fellow employee. You said, the unnamed FA, "sent the GA" to the hospital. That is a pretty clear cut accusatory statement. Now you say it is the "fault of a FA, as well as the FA who did not verify..." with no prior knowledge of the circumstances of the incident you have judged and sentenced not one but two FAs.

You are a walking, talking demonstration why Tempe is so screwed up. Youare so messed up, I would put you off without question. To call you a drama queen would be to assert intelligence you clearly do not possess.

????

Nope.
Never accused anyone of anything.

 

[AstroLounge]

The problem is, my dear, you accused that FA of injuring a fellow employee. You said, the unnamed FA, "sent the GA" to the hospital. That is a pretty clear cut accusatory statement. Now you say it is the "fault of a FA, as well as the FA who did not verify..." with no prior knowledge of the circumstances of the incident you have judged and sentenced not one but two FAs.

You are a walking, talking demonstration why Tempe is so screwed up. Youare so messed up, I would put you off without question. To call you a drama queen would be to assert intelligence you clearly do not possess.

Sorry, but I think YOU are the one out of line. IF (and that is the key word) the disarming F/A and the observer/verifier DID NOT (key error) disarm the slide from its bracket AND the GA was injured, the BLAME squarely rests on the TWO F/A's screwing up. There isn't any way the GA contributed to the situation....if ANYONE opens an ARMED DOOR, who should we blame- My Mother for Christ sake!

 

[desertgal]

IF (and that is the key word) the disarming F/A and the observer/verifier DID NOT (key error) disarm the slide from its bracket AND the GA was injured, the BLAME squarely rests on the TWO F/A's screwing up.

Unfortunately, it is fact 🙁
I got my info from the Must Read book upon check-in for my last trip.
I'm pretty sure the company is not making it up.
Of course they leave out certain details like the FAs name, the day, flt, and city, and the discipline they received.
But they did provide a brief report of the two scenarios I posted about.
Apparently not enuf to count as 'prior knowledge' for a usaviation poster like me 😉
But, enuf for us to take heed and hopefully learn from.

 

[AstroLounge]

Thanks for the information........ANYTHING is possible, and last I checked We Are all Human and capable of making mistakes. It does seem strange IF (that key word ) the Monitor and Challenge (or any variation of it 😛 ) were being implimented , HOW this armed door was OPENED, and NEITHER SKY GOD/GODDESS was aware of it. Then again they may have been debating WHICH Splenda flavoured sweetener do WE try next?

 

[Travelpro72]

How much time does one get off without pay from the IT department for the BS reservation system not working or the ETC not working? How much time does Sherri get off for not knowing how to deal with flight attendants? How much time does DOUG get off for well, we won't even go there. How much time does the person responsible for making everyones lives miserable with the A320 and A330 recongig get off? The point I'm making is the whole "blow a slide and you've been had" crap is a bit harsh. Humans make mistakes. F/a's DO need to focus when it's time to arm/disarm. Though the monitor and challenge works it is NOT the most well thought out process AT ALL. As for talking to your door. WHAT is the difference between saying it out loud or talking to yourself in your head? I mean really. Pilots do it because they are talking to each other not themselves. 🙄