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An air carrier pilot reported that while opening an unarmed B737 galley door for ventilation; the girth bar fell; caught the door frame and the slide deployed.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1425166 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201702 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | B737-700 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 121 |
| Flight Phase | Parked |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Escape Slide |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown |
Narrative:
After arrival to a very hot aircraft (because it had been closed with the ground heat on) I tried opening the galley door for airflow. It did not have a window flag; and the slide girt bars were stowed on the door. I turned the handle; did an initial push to open the door. I didn't push hard enough; so I let it come back a bit; and gave a harder push. I heard the telltale velcro release sound; and let off the door pressure and allowed it to close. However; I pushed it far enough for the slide to deploy.when I realized what had happened; I noticed the slide bar had somehow slid to the right during the opening sequence; and in a sense 'armed' the door by catching the door frame. This allowed the slide to deploy. I told the agent - he called maintenance. I notified the chief pilots and captain.preventative measures: 1. The slide bar needs to be locked into place in the latches/ locks; not just placed on top of them. 2. The person opening the door (including me) needs to pay more attention that the slide bars are in proper position before opening the door. Other than the pride hit and embarrassment of this occurring; I feel the situation is very lucky that no one was outside the door or on the ground when this happened.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: An air carrier pilot reported that while opening an unarmed B737 galley door for ventilation; the girth bar fell; caught the door frame and the slide deployed.
Narrative: After arrival to a very hot aircraft (because it had been closed with the ground heat on) I tried opening the galley door for airflow. It did not have a window flag; and the slide girt bars were stowed on the door. I turned the handle; did an initial push to open the door. I didn't push hard enough; so I let it come back a bit; and gave a harder push. I heard the telltale Velcro release sound; and let off the door pressure and allowed it to close. However; I pushed it far enough for the slide to deploy.When I realized what had happened; I noticed the slide bar had somehow slid to the right during the opening sequence; and in a sense 'armed' the door by catching the door frame. This allowed the slide to deploy. I told the Agent - he called Maintenance. I notified the Chief Pilots and Captain.Preventative Measures: 1. The slide bar needs to be locked into place in the latches/ locks; not just placed on top of them. 2. The person opening the door (including me) needs to pay more attention that the slide bars are in proper position before opening the door. Other than the pride hit and embarrassment of this occurring; I feel the situation is very lucky that no one was outside the door or on the ground when this happened.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.