Flight attendants have ongoing training on how to use emergency equipment on board an airplane and when to use it, but they are still human and can make mistakes, just like any other professional.
However, a recent error by a British Airways cabin staff member resulted in the carrier losing a takeoff slot and cost the company more over $60,000 (£50,000).
The new employee’s first day on the job ended in a highly tense situation when the Boeing 777’s emergency slide was unintentionally deployed as the aircraft was about to take off from London Heathrow Airport.
In response to the potential incident, emergency services arrived quickly.
#BritishAirways Boeing 777-200 (G-VIIK) flight #BA75 to #Lagos, Nigeria the emergency slide was deployed during pushed back from the gate at #London Heathrow Airport.
📷 ©@MZulqarnainBut1#Boeing #B777 #Nigeria #uk #Heathrow #aviation #AvGeek #avgeeks #flights #Travel #traveler pic.twitter.com/5SbjMbnYos
— FlightMode (@FlightModeblog) January 13, 2023
British Airways missed its scheduled takeoff time because of the incident, which caused the flight to be delayed for around an hour as airline engineers resolved the problem.
The passengers were put on another aircraft with the same crew, minus the newbie and the British flag carrier apologized for the inconvenience.
