CA BIN S A F ET Y
050 aircraftinteriorsinternational.com
JUNE 2019
ONGOING
EXAMPLES OF
SUBOPTIMAL
EVACUATIONS
GIVE CAUSE FOR
CONCERN
The emergency landing of Air China
flight 983’s B777-300ER on 4 March, 2019
is a recent example of emergency escape
slides being disabled by wind. But the
sight of the slides flapping wildly in the
Siberian gusts of Russia’s most easterly
town, Anadyr, where it made an
emergency landing, raised a number of
questions about evacuation standards.
These questions were previously
flagged by investigators following the
3 August, 2016 crash at Dubai of Emirates
flight 521, a B777-300, where problems
were experienced at every one of the
eight evacuation doors used of the widebody’s
10 emergency exits, as laid out in
the Preliminary Accident Investigation
“Is it time to revisit wind
requirements and usable
exit assumptions?”
Report by the United Arab Emirates’ General Civil
Aviation Authority.
Of the 10 doors, L3 was not opened owing to smoke
outside. R3 was opened briefly, but closed after its cabin
crew member spotted fire outside. Slide L1 detached from
the door sill, and indeed the aircraft commander and
senior cabin crew member had to jump from the door
onto the slide lying on the ground to evacuate after the
explosion of the centre fuel tank. Slide R1 “deflated
after several passengers had evacuated,” according
to the report. Slides L2 and L4 were deployed but
not used, owing to wind. R2 was used, but was
the same side as the fire. R4 was “blocked due to
passenger congestion. The slide was filled with
water as a result of firefighting activity.” L5 was
“used only at the start of the evacuation” and was
affected by the wind. R5 was “temporarily blocked
when the slide was wind affected”.
There are evidently questions about slide
requirements in the event of moderate winds, which
at the time ranged from 9-21 knots ,with gusts up to
29 knots based on data from the airport. The FAA’s
certification standards require slides to remain fully
usable in winds of 25 knots coming “from the most
critical angle”. Given that certification takes place with
50% of slides fully operational, is it time to revisit both
the wind requirements and the number of usable exit
assumptions given that 0% of the slides used in this
incident operated correctly?
By and large, aviation remains remarkably safe and
benefits from a historically strong safety framework.
Yet that strength stems from a culture that includes
independent and rigorous certification authorities, free
from political interference, adequately resourced for their
tasks, and supported by international standardisation
work that is up-to-date. It is crucial for the future of
aviation safety that this culture is maintained, renewed,
and continually improved upon.
Visit our website
for cabin safety
insights from
US Airways
flight 1549
LEFT: TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS EDM’S
VIRTUAL SLIDE TRAINER CAN HELP
AIRLINES AND AIRFRAMERS PROVIDE
SLIDE DEPLOYMENT TRAINING IN
VARIOUS SCENARIOS FOR EMERGENCY
EVACUATION PROCEDURES
RIGHT: THE US AIRWAYS
FLIGHT 1549 INCIDENT
IN 2009 – ALSO KNOWN
AS THE ‘MIRACLE ON
THE HUDSON’ –YIELDED
MANY INSIGHTS INTO
EMERGENCY EVACUATION.
PHOTO: GREG LAM PAK NG
/aircraftinteriorsinternational.com