A British Airways captain reportedly deployed an emergency slide on an Airbus A320 by accident at London-Heathrow Airport (LHR).
The incident, which occurred on February 3, 2024, was reported by aviation news blog Paddle Your Own Kanoo.
According to the report, the 22-year old A320 had landed from Václav Havel Airport (PRG) in Prague and was preparing to depart for its next flight.
Passengers were boarding the aircraft and had filled the overhead bin with luggage and personal belongings. The cabin crew removed some of the luggage from the overhead bins in order to be checked in, resulting in the delay.
When the delay had been sorted, flight attendants immediately closed the aircraft door and armed the emergency slide. However, one of the ground staff from outside the aircraft unexpectedly knocked on the door.
The flight’s pilot allegedly opened the armed door, which then caused the emergency slide to deploy.
Emergency services rushed to the aircraft and all 67 passengers were immediately removed from the aircraft using a set of stairs positioned at the back of the aircraft.
The aircraft was taken out of service and passengers were accommodated on other flights.
Less than a month ago, a British Airways cabin manager was demonstrating how to open the aircraft door during an emergency situation when they accidentally triggered the emergency slide
In 2023, the British flag carrier had been involved in a few incidents where crew accidentally deployed the emergency slide.
The airline will reportedly introduce the Japanese ritual of Shisa Kanko on its flights to prevent further incidents.
Commonly practiced by railway operators in Japan, Shisa Kanko is a mindfulness occupational ritual of pointing and calling, believed to both reorient and activate a worker’s attention towards a target for future action.