Recently 176 passengers on board an indigo flight going from Delhi to Varanasi were evacuated with the help of evacuation slides. In this article we will read about what exactly are evacuation slides.
An evacuation slide is an inflatable slide that allows passengers to safely exit the aircraft during an emergency when no ladders can be put. As per the aviation protocols, an evacuation slide must be deployed when the distance between the ground and the flight exit door is 6 feet or more.
These slides are generally packed and installed within a door or into an external fuselage compartment. A lever on the interior door connects the slide to the door. At the start of every flight, the lever is in the armed position and if the door is opened, the slide will be deployed. The door cannot be opened mid -flight due to the difference in air pressure inside the cabin and outside the atmosphere. As per the European Union Aviation Safety Agency’s guidelines, a slide should be automatically deployed once the door is opened.
The slide must be inflated within 6 to 10 seconds depending on its location. The evacuation slides are typically made from carbon fibre and a nylon material coated with urethane for fire resistance. Strong fibres are used to build these slides so they don’t get torn as passengers use them.
They are inflated with the help of high pressure carbon dioxide or nitrogen gas containers and ambient air through suction machines. As per the protocol, the slide should be able to sustain rainfall of up to 1 inch an hour and winds up to the speed of 46 km per hour and at 45 degrees, degree angles around the aircraft.
