An emergency slide on a Delta Air Lines Boeing 767 was accidentally deployed on top of a catering truck shortly after the aircraft had arrived at London Gatwick Airport on Monday morning.
The potentially costly accident occurred after the 26-year-old aircraft had flown from New York JFK as flight DL62 and after passengers had already disembarked and the plane was being prepared for its return to the United States.
It’s not known how or why the emergency slide was accidentally deployed, as the door should have been disarmed upon arrival in London. Usually, during catering, the door is opened from the outside once the catering truck is positioned in line with the door.
On this occasion, Delta didn’t have to cancel the return flight, but the plane did depart with a delay of nearly three hours.
Delta did not provide a statement on the incident, but a spokesperson noted that there weren’t any reported injuries or damage to the aircraft.
Last September, another Delta-operated Boeing 767 suffered what is known in the industry as an ‘inadvertent slide deployment’ shortly after landing at Dublin Airport.
It’s estimated that the cost to replace an emergency slide in parts and maintenance, as well as associated delays, is at least $35,000, although this figure can be much higher for dual-aisle aircraft like the Boeing 767.
On that occasion, Delta confirmed that the emergency slide on the front right-hand side door was accidentally activated during the disarming procedure.
Boeing 767 doors are rather unusual in that they open upwards into the interior of the aircraft. The slide arming mechanism is very close to the door opening handle, which also goes in an upward motion.
Several months earlier, on June 10, an emergency slide accidentally inflated inside the aircraft of a Delta Boeing 767 as the crew went to arm the doors for departure.
A flight attendant was injured after being hit in the head by the inflatable slide and had to be transported to the hospital, although sources have confirmed that the crew member wasn’t seriously injured and was discharged the same day.
Please provide us with some real journalism instead of reporting on every little airline incident that happens. These sort of things happen every airline all over the world. Small technical issues are the cost of doing business at an airline.
Quit whining about it and reporting about it and give us some real stories
Please may I recieve credit for the photo used or have it removed?
Apologies about that! Credit has now been added. Sorry once again!