It must be quite a relief for airline passengers, especially those with a nervous disposition towards flying per se, to hear the word INADVERTENT used when, shortly after landing and upon arrival at the gate, a flight attendant announces over the public address system that the Emergency Escape Slide has been ‘inadvertently’ deployed. Translation, no worries someone screwed up big time. Likely they pressed the wrong button. There is not nor was there an emergency. The slide has simply been accidentally activated. (to considerable expense!) 

Emergency slides of course cannot be deployed in flight however, on at least three occasions they have fallen off aircraft in flight. (I am not making this up). * Interestingly all three fell off Boeing 767s. Fortunately at least to date, none of the detachments caused any damage to people or, as far as is known, anything else when they struck the ground. Emergency slides cost a minimum of U.S. $35,000 and much higher it turns out, for 767s specifically. See for more details www.flightglobal.com – United Airlines Boeing 767 loses inflatable evacuation slide just prior to landing at Chicago.

I was aboard an Air Canada flight from Vancouver to Sidney Australia when on a routine refueling stopover in Hawaii, we passengers were immediately and rapidly deplaned after an inadvertent deployment of the slide announcement was made shortly after we arrived at the gate. I rather liked the idea of deplaning via the slide however the cabin and presumably flight crew would have none of it. We were required to walk off via the usual gate centric manner. I did catch a glimpse of the deployed chute through one of the plane’s windows. It was semi-inflated and hanging down rather sadly from the fuselage. Clearly it was not serviceable. If parachutes are anything to go by, one would surmise that correctly repacking the chute prior to the next take off would not be an easy nor a five minute job. The cost to re-pack? About a mind blowing U.S. $12,000 plus apparently. At least our slide had not fallen off in flight saving the $35,000 plus cost of a replacement.

Quite soon after exiting the aircraft we were advised over the public address system, that our crew would be commandeering a shortly incoming Australia to Vancouver bound aircraft for our flight’s leg to Sydney from where the airline’s inbound flight was arriving. One assumes the very likely disgruntled Vancouver bound passengers aboard would, like it or not, deplane and hang tough while our aircraft’s chute was folded up and correctly re-stowed to become their emergency rapid disembarkation on landing safety device. Only then would they be allowed to board the aircraft then bound for Vancouver. Obviously this would all take some time. Hopefully those passengers would not be asked for a whip-round * * to raise the $12,000 US plus for the re-stowing bill.

Officialdom being what it is, we were instructed that after exiting what was still at that point ‘our’ aircraft, we were to go through customs but would not be allowed to leave the airport. This presumably in case someone wanted to escape into Hawaii proper or potentially and fairly readily, onward to the US mainland. We were then all to eventually troop back through customs to board the said incoming aircraft with its at that point, unwitting passengers about to be hijacked by us and temporarily held in US territory pending the fix on the inadvertently deployed evacuation slide. They would not exactly be under guard but likely something close thereto. We all trooped off our plane passports in hand, entered US territory and reasonably soon thereafter boarded the refueled aircraft we had blatantly commandeered having gone through US customs a second time presumably to ensure nobody had ‘made a break for it’ or as it were gone AWOL*** so to speak, into US territory.

After we had all exited US terrain and boarded our ‘quasi highjacked’ aircraft, we very soon took off and arrived in Sydney (Good on yer Sheila, Bruce, etc, etc) only about two hours later than scheduled. As for the Vancouver bound flight’s crew and passengers, miffed though they may have been, as far as we knew they would have reasonably soon departed for home albeit depending on how quickly the slide could be repacked. All’s well that hopefully, ended soon and well. 

**** Australians are nothing if not friendly, talkative and very welcoming indeed. I spent about five weeks there rental car traveling solo after visiting for a few days with an ex Vancouver friend living in Sydney and was treated by myriad total strangers like a prodigal son before again spending a few days with my Sydney friend just before departing for Vancouver.

I still have not deplaned via an emergency slide nor am I keen on encountering a situation presenting a need to do so. Hopefully neither you nor I will ever have that need. Emergency escape slides are of course never deployed, other than inadvertently, without a serious emergency situation having developed on landing, crashing or whatever. Without doubt under multiple circumstances they have saved many lives.

* Three times to date evacuation slides have fallen from aircraft in flight! All Boeing 767s. Fortunately none so far have caused any injuries upon striking the ground. It might be worth a visit back to the 767’s drawings one muses, before the next flying evacuation slide takes flight and does cause injuries. Just saying.

** WHIP-ROUND 

Britannica Dictionary definition –  WHIP-ROUND. British, informal. A collection of money from a group of people that is used to pay for something, buy a gift, make a donation, etc. For example: We had a whip round at the office to buy our secretary a retirement present.

*** AWOL (Absent without leave. Military et al)

**** See my story Aussie Bee Keeper August 7th 2023.

FYI see www.simpleflying.com for interesting aviation news and insight. One of my sources for this story.

NB: i.e. Nota Bene. Not Written by ChatGPT but by Barry H. Devonald.

All Rights Reserved.

Now numbering fifty two, all my short stories to date are posted to www.barrydevonald.com. More are on the way.