Costly Cabin Crew Mistake: $70,000 Slide Mishap Strands Delta Passengers

A Delta Air Lines flight attendant caused a massive delay and an estimated $70,000 in damage after accidentally deploying an emergency evacuation slide on an Airbus A220 at Pittsburgh International Airport (PIT) on the evening of Saturday, October 25, 2025.

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The costly mistake—an industry event known as an Inadvertent Slide Deployment (ISD)—occurred just as the plane was preparing for pushback.

What Exactly Happened?

1. Doors Armed: Following standard procedure, flight attendants armed the aircraft doors for departure. This action connects the inflatable slide to the door, preparing it for an emergency exit.
2. The Error: A veteran crew member, reportedly with 26 years of experience, mistakenly lifted the door handle of the forward left-hand door (the main boarding door, 1L) while the system was still armed.
3. Automatic Deployment: Because the door was armed, lifting the handle instantly activated the emergency power assist function, which forced the door open and automatically inflated the slide within seconds. This process is immediate and cannot be stopped once initiated.

Immediate Fallout

The slide ballooned directly against the jetbridge, effectively trapping passengers on board the aircraft. It took engineers approximately one hour to manually detach and remove the huge inflatable chute so the jetbridge could be reconnected and passengers could deplane.

The flight was consequently delayed by four hours, from 5:30 pm to 9:11 pm, causing numerous passengers to miss their onward connections in Salt Lake City and get stranded overnight. The replacement of a small jet slide, like the one on the A220, costs between $50,000 and $70,000, with overall costs for repair, repacking, crew, and passenger recovery often escalating into six figures.