DESCRIPTION
The emergency-evacuation slide system makes it possible for the passengers and crew members to safely leave the aircraft during an emergency evacuation. This system consists of inflatable slide units packed on each of the four exit doors of the aircraft.
COMPONENTS
SLIDE ASSEMBLY
The slide assembly contains the inflatable portion of the system and other components necessary for the system to operate. The major components of the slide assembly are described below:
• Inflatable assembly: it consists in an inflatable tube structure that
forms the slide upon inflation.
• Girt assembly: it provides the attachment of the slide to the
aircraft. The status of the girt bar is indicated at each door, with one visual indicator, located near the lower corner of the decorative bustle. When the door slide system is not armed, there is no color shown on the visual indicator. When the door slide system is armed, a red color indication shows on the visual indicator.
When the door slide system is not armed, the lower indicator window and the top indicator window are green. When the door slide system is armed, the lower viewing window shows two indicators with aligned red lines and the top viewing window shows an armed indication.
• Slide surface assembly: it provides the sliding surface that
controls the path of the evacuees.
• Lifeline: it goes along the forward and aft main slide tubes. It is
colored red to contrast with the color of the inflatable assembly. It is used in the event of a ditching and provides evacuees with something to hold on to while in the water.
• Pressure relief valve: it is used to control the inflation pressure
inside the slide during and after the inflation process.
• Manual inflation handle: it is used after the evacuation slide
deploys from the door but the inflation system does not fire automatically.
SLIDE LIGHTING SYSTEM
The slide lighting system provides illumination in the area where evacuees touch the ground and along the sliding lane. The slide lighting system is described below:
• Battery: it supplies electrical power to the slide lighting system
through a series array of four AA alkaline cells, and operates well in temperatures ranging from -40 °C (-40 °F) to 71 °C (160 °F).
• Lights harness: they are LED (Light-Emitting Diode)s
encapsulated in a transparent housing installed on the slide structure. These lights are positioned so as to give a good visibility in any condition.
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Emergency Equipment
The inflation system is actuated automatically when the packed slide is ejected out of the aircraft exit door. The inflation system is described below:
• High-pressure cylinder: it supplies high-pressure gas to the
aspirators which then aspirate ambient air (secondary flow) along with stored gas from the cylinder (primary flow) to inflate the slides.
• Regulator: it is used to reduce the pressure in the high-pressure
cylinder to the inlet pressure required by the aspirator. The regulator contains a pressure gauge with a green GO and red NO GO indication. The indicator is used by the flight attendant to check if the inflation cylinder is ready.
• Hose: it delivers the high-pressure gas from the regulator to the
aspirator.
• Aspirator: it is an air pump that aspirates ambient air using high
pressure gas energy. The aspirator is equipped with a one-way check valve to prevent gas in the slide from leaking through the hose inlet port.
PACKBOARD PLATE
The packboard plate is used to retain the slide in the packed state. It contains the following components:
• Packboard: it consists of a composite flat plate and attachment
hardware. There are three attachment points to fasten the slide assembly to the door structure, two at the bottom and one at the top of the packboard.
• Soft cover: it is a fabric component that restrains the packed slide
onto the packboard. The soft cover is used to compress the slide into the required envelope and hold it there.
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Emergency Equipment
OPERATION
The emergency-evacuation slide system is armed or disarmed by moving the arm/disarm handle located on the door to the appropriate position. When the arm/disarm handle is moved to the armed position, the girt bar engages to the floor fittings. When the arm/disarm handle is moved to the unarmed position, the girt bar disengages from the floor fittings.
EMERGENCY EVACUATION CONDITION
With the emergency-evacuation slide system armed:
• The exit door pulls the primary release cable and pin when it is
opened. This causes the slide pack to drop from the packboard.
• As the slide pack drops a preset distance, the firing cable pulls
the firing pin from the regulator assembly to release the high pressure gas from the cylinder.
• The high pressure gas flows through the hose assembly to the
aspirator and inflates the slide.
• The pressure relief valve opens at a preset pressure to maintain
the correct inflation pressure of the inflation tubes.
• When fully inflated, the slide is ready to be used for aircraft
evacuation.
The emergency-evacuation slide system can operate in an abnormal mode as follows:
• In case the inflation system does not actuate automatically, the
flight attendant or another person has to pull the manual inflation handle.
• The manual inflation handle activates the inflation system and
fully inflates the slide.
If the evacuation slide is damaged, punctured or torn, which makes it unable to hold air and inflate properly; it can be used as a non inflatable device, provided there is ground personnel assistance.