New video shows smoke and deployment of evacuation chutes after a Boeing 777 crash lands in San Francisco.
Slides and slide/rafts use a non-explosive, inert gas inflation systems. The FAA requires evacuation of the entire aircraft in 90 seconds using 50% of the available evacuation exits. To meet this, all evacuation units need to deploy in less than 10 seconds. For large, wide body aircraft such as A300s and B747s a successful deployment is complete in about 5–7 seconds, depending on conditions (such as temperature and winds).
Escape slides are packed and held within the door structure inside the slide bustle, a protruding part of the inside of an aircraft door that varies in size depending on both the size of the aircraft and the size of the door.
Many evacuation slides, but not all slides are also designed to double as life rafts in case of a water landing.
Window exits usually come in two configurations:
An unhinged hatch type exit, where the hatch is unlocked from the inside and pulled into the cabin, whereupon it can be disposed. Some carriers recommend placing the hatch onto the adjacent seats, while others may recommend dropping it in the next seat row, or rotating the exit and throwing it outside the aircraft as far forward as possible. A manual inflation handle for the evacuation slide, if equipped, can be found in the window frame. Most aircraft overwing exits are of this type.
A hinged self-disposing exit hatch, that opens automatically outward using a spring when the exit handle is pulled. This exit design was designed in response to research generated after the Manchester air disaster in 1985 which indicated that unhinged hatch type exits were difficult to open by untrained passengers. This design is currently found only on Boeing 737 NG aircraft.
Window exits are usually equipped with ditching or life lines. These may be attached to the inside frame of the window exit, or located in a nearby storage locker. One end has a buckle to connect to attachments on the aircraft’s wings.
