Passenger sets off emergency slide 'by accident'

[Ryan N]

Passenger sets off emergency slide 'by accident'
August 8, 2008 - 10:34AM

A Vietnam Airlines passenger faces a fine after he set off the inflatable emergency slide of a parked Airbus A321 at Taipei's airport last weekend, state media reported Thursday.

Cabin crew discovered the device had been released shortly before the jet was to fly to Hanoi, the VN Express online newspaper reported.

Vietnamese passenger Le Van Hanh, 26, triggered the device when he touched the emergency handle on one of the exit doors, the report said.

Hanh, who works in Taiwan and was on his second-ever flight, on Thursday met Vietnamese aviation authorities in Hanoi to sign a paper committing him to pay a fine of up to 50 million dong (A$3330).

Hanh said the incident was not his fault.

"The incident happened because the air hostess did not provide me with a thorough explanation," Hanh was quoted as telling the news site. "I touched (the door) by accident, not deliberately."

AFP

[Philip Argy]

Assuming that he inadvertently moved the handle during boarding, the slide should have been disarmed.

We need more information on how a passenger came to be adjacent the door handle at a stage when the slide was armed and the a/c was still on the ground.

Unless he tried to leave the a/c at the wrong time, it looks to me like cabin crew error rather than passenger fault.

[NickN]

Could this be one of those "state media" issues blaming the innocent passenger to create a scapegoat?

[Philip Argy]

It's as good an explanation as we are likely to get!

[Adam G]

Without knowing anything about the incident the most likely explanation is that the pax was given a brief as he was seated by an emergency exit & accidently (or otherwise) opened the door during the briefing or after the briefing.

This happens from time to time.

[Brendan Lawrence]

On Jetstar A321s, the SOP is that ALL doors are disarmed when parked at the gate, but I've commented on a similar story to this on another forum and was informed that some airlines leave the mid-cabin exits armed on the ground. I think that's a very bad idea because something like this incident with Vietnam Airlines could happen.

It's not just the cost of re-packing the slide and checking the door mechanisms, etc. They're also very lucky that there weren't any ground staff working in vicinity of the door that was opened because one of those escape slides could severely injure or kill anyone that they strike, considering the rate at which they inflate.

And Philip, with your question about how a passenger came to be adjacent to the door handle, well on the A321 passengers seated in 10A, 10F, 24A and 24F (window seats of the emergency exit rows) have the door operating handle of L2, R2, L3 or R3 (whichever applicable) positioned about 30-40cm in front of them. The operating handle is covered only by a plastic cover guard which is spring-loaded and if pushed away, the slide armed warning indicator light will illuminate and the flight deck will be given a warning that a cabin door is about to be opened in armed mode.

The passenger's attempt at blaming the cabin crew about not giving him a thorough enough explanation is weak. No matter WHAT kind of briefing you're given about the operation of emergency exits, however thorough, accurate or confusing, do you think you would dare touch ANYTHING on the door under normal circumstances? The idea is not to "give it a go" once the flight attendant has just told you how to open it!

Anyway, this is further proof that airlines around the world operating aircraft with mid-cabin exits within easy access of passengers should change SOPs to have ALL doors disarmed at the same time (when parked at a gate/on a bay).

[Brendan Lawrence]

Furthermore, here is a photo I took when the A321 (VH-VWY) entered service - this is door R3 - you can see the plastic cover guard over the door operating handle... passengers in close proximity...

[Philip Argy]

I've not seen that configuration before, so thanks. But your main point about never having doors armed at the gate was my focus.

I've never actually flown with JQ - get my very first chance on 20/8 with JQ704 HBA-MEL so I'll be interested to see the config.