Overwing Slide deploys on 767-300 during Approach

[MolaKule]

Apparently it deployed on approach and fell 2.5 miles from end of runway. No injuries.

https://onemileatatime.com/news/united-boeing-767-emergency-slide-falls-from-sky/

 

[wwillson]

@Astro14 how could that happen?

 

[86cutlass307]

My post USAF life included 7+ years as an FAA Quality Inspector and I'm sure I'm not alone noticing WAY too many ground incidents and now in-flight acft equipment departures. Blue ice is one thing, but an over wing escape slide? Look out below!

 

[RoadDukie]

I haven't read this yet, but how did the slide get OUTSIDE of the aircraft?

 

[kschachn]

I haven't read this yet, but how did the slide get OUTSIDE of the aircraft?

If you watch the video, you will see. It didn’t get outside, it is outside.

 

[Wylie6G72]

I haven't read this yet, but how did the slide get OUTSIDE of the aircraft?

It's not actually mounted inside the cabin of the aircraft. When an overwing door is opened under certain circumstances, the slide is triggered to deploy through a hatch on the side of the fuselage just below the door

 

[kschachn]

My post USAF life included 7+ years as an FAA Quality Inspector and I'm sure I'm not alone noticing WAY too many ground incidents and now in-flight acft equipment departures. Blue ice is one thing, but an over wing escape slide? Look out below!

The DC-9 had a history of dropping the tail cone in flight. It was part of the emergency escape system so it had to release when it was supposed to, but the rigging was pretty much a hair trigger that went off sometimes in flight. Much of the time the pilot had no idea that the cone had departed and part of an AD was to install a TAILCONE OFF annunciator on the instrument panel.

It was eventually sorted out through a series of airworthiness directives and rigging changes.

Here is a proper test of the tail cone and the emergency slide deployment:

 

[CanAmAndMore]

United...our slogan is we will beat you up for paying for an expensive ticket, or lighten our plane by littering your yard with spare parts.

 

[TheLastWord]

It's not actually mounted inside the cabin of the aircraft. When an overwing door is opened under certain circumstances, the slide is triggered to deploy through a hatch on the side of the fuselage just below the door

And yet I have videos of slides opening up in the cabin while in flight. Very slowly but passengers are terrified.

 

[CanAmAndMore]

 

[Wylie6G72]

And yet I have videos of slides opening up in the cabin while in flight. Very slowly but passengers are terrified.

Not in a 767.

 

[Astro14]

I haven't read this yet, but how did the slide get OUTSIDE of the aircraft?

Because that is where the over wing slide was built.

The overwing exit door itself is small. It has to be small, because the wing structure goes through the airplane at that part. You can’t build a big door right there. The slide is external to the aircraft, so that way if you use the overwing exit, the slide deploys from the outside of the airframe, people go through the door onto the slide and off the airplane.

There’s a couple of possibilities on how this thing deployed, one of them is mechanical fault, and one of them is electrical fault. One of them is yet another idiot passenger pulling the handle on the exit door. Seems to be a trend of idiocy lately, so I don’t discount the possibility.

It’s too early to tell what happened here.

 

[MolaKule]

I haven't read this yet, but how did the slide get OUTSIDE of the aircraft?

The overwing slide is actually outside the cabin.

Here is one explanation:

"...When a similar incident occurred in Canada, investigators explained the occurrence in this way:

The Boeing 767 incorporates an inflatable slide at the inboard rear of each wing to allow the evacuation of passengers who use the over-wing exits during an emergency. Slide deployment is initiated by opening the exit hatch from the inside. The hatch opening motion actuates electrical switches that simultaneously (1) operate a relay to ground out any position command going to the main hydraulic spoiler power controller actuator, and (2) fire the spoiler override actuator which rotates the inboard spoiler to the down position. After a two-second time delay (from the spoiler actuator firing), the latch opening actuator is fired. The latch opening actuator opens the escape slide compartment door latches and fires the door opening actuators located in the escape slide compartment. The slide compartment door, with the escape slide packboard assembly attached, is rotated outboard by the actuators. When the door opens, a mechanical link to a high pressure inflation cylinder triggers the release of gas that inflates the slide.

But notice the bolding. Deployment of the slide is triggered by the opening of the overwing exit in the armed condition. So is that what happened here? And if so, was the flight deck really totally unaware of it?

Or could it be that the slide somehow dropped (since it did not deploy) without the exit door actually being opened?

When a similar incident occurred on a Delta 767 in 2019, it appears it was the airstream that ripped the slide off, but in that case, the slide did deploy.

CONCLUSION​

An emergency exit slide dropped from a United 767 while on approach to ORD on Monday. No injuries were reported, although there was property damage reported.

We will be monitoring this story for updates from the FAA and United that better explain how this occured. In the meantime, any theories? Is it possible a passenger partially opened the overwing exit door?"

https://liveandletsfly.com/emergency-evacuation-slide-united-767-300/

Here is a report of another occurence:

https://www.townofmilton.org/sites/g/files/vyhlif911/f/news/preliminary_ffa_report.pdf

 

[edyvw]

My post USAF life included 7+ years as an FAA Quality Inspector and I'm sure I'm not alone noticing WAY too many ground incidents and now in-flight acft equipment departures. Blue ice is one thing, but an over wing escape slide? Look out below!

As @Astro14 pointed out, there seem to be more cases of idiots doing stupid stuff.
But, there is social media. What was before news on page 14 of WSJ or NYT, now you get on the phone in your palm as breaking news.
I always have super interesting conversations with students when explaining that the number of terrorist attacks in the 1970s' was far more than last two decades. They literally look and shake their heads until I show detailed graphs.
So, today, EVERYTHING ends up on your phone as "breaking" news.