LONDON— A newly qualified British Airways (BA) flight attendant accidentally activated an emergency evacuation slide on a Boeing 777-200 during his second flight, delaying a transatlantic service from London Heathrow (LHR) to Washington Dulles (IAD) by more than six hours on Saturday afternoon.
The incident occurred on May 16 as British Airways (BA) flight BA217 pushed back from the gate at Terminal 5, London Heathrow (LHR). The aircraft eventually departed for Washington Dulles (IAD) around 7 pm, well behind its scheduled departure time.
British Airways Crew Deployed Emergency Slide
The error happened at around 12:35 pm when the 26-year-old Boeing 777 was pushing back from the gate. The crew member had only recently completed initial training and was operating his second flight when the mistake took place.
According to confidential sources cited by the cabin crew Facebook group “A Fly Guy’s Cabin Crew Lounge,” the flight attendant became confused when he heard the standard command “Doors to automatic.” This command instructs cabin crew to arm the emergency evacuation slide so it deploys automatically if the cabin door is opened.
Instead of simply arming the door, the crew member pulled the door opening lever. This action activated the emergency power assist system, which forced the door open and deployed the evacuation slide at Door 3L, the third door on the left side of the aircraft.
The flight was delayed while the airport fire brigade attended the scene. The same aircraft involved in the incident was later cleared to operate the service, departing for Washington Dulles around 7 pm, more than six hours after its planned departure.
A Recurring Pattern at British Airways
These events are known in the aviation industry as inadvertent slide deployments, or ISDs. According to European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, around three ISDs occur worldwide every single day.
ISDs are normally caused by crew fatigue or confusion, typically when flight attendants open a cabin door after arrival but forget to disarm the evacuation slide. It is far rarer for a crew member to arm the slide and then immediately open the door.
Some experts believe these points point to a training issue, where new recruits build muscle memory that arming a door is always followed by opening it for an emergency evacuation.
As reported by PYOK, the pattern of these incidents at British Airways is a particular concern. During the airline’s previous cabin crew recruitment campaign in 2023, the carrier experienced a series of similar accidents.
In January 2023, a new cabin crew member accidentally activated an emergency slide as a British Airways Boeing 777 pushed back from the gate at Heathrow, under closely matching circumstances.
About six months later, a second crew member activated a slide in a similar way. A few weeks after that, a third crew member deployed a slide shortly after arrival in Madrid, even though the door was not being used for boarding and no ground vehicles were trying to access the aircraft.
British Airways Adopts a Japanese Safety Technique
To reduce the number of ISDs, British Airways introduced a Japanese workplace practice known as Shisa Kanko, which translates to “pointing and calling.”
Shisa Kanko was developed in the early 1900s on Japan’s railway network. It requires train drivers and station staff to point at and call out the status of a signal.
The movement is deliberately exaggerated to slow the process down and force the person to focus only on the task at hand. One study into the practice claimed it reduces human error by nearly 85%.
For British Airways cabin crew, Shisa Kanko involves pointing at the door and calling out whether it is armed or disarmed before preparing it for departure or arrival. However, the technique offers limited protection if a crew member is working on autopilot and opens an armed door without any valid reason.
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