"[Developing an escape slide] is like trying to balance a sheet of plywood on the head of a pin."
Mark Robertson, engineer
If an airplane crashes, an exit strategy needs to be in place. In fact, aviation authority rules state that it must be possible to completely evacuate an airplane within ninety seconds, under conditions of pitch black darkness and with half the exits blocked.
In 1965 Jack Grant, who was working at Quantas Airlines as a safety superintendent, invented a superior inflatable escape slide that could double up as a life raft in the event of a crash landing at sea. His design was tried and tested in Sydney, Australia, with great success. In the 1960s, aviation authorities suggested that inflatable slides would only be useful if they could be fully deployed within twenty-five seconds, in
moderate weather. The slide met these requirements and was also light and compact; it fit inside the aircraft door or below the emergency exit window.
In an emergency, the slide mechanism is activated to release the slide. It then begins to inflate, initially drawing air from a cylinder of compressed carbon dioxide and nitrogen gas. The cylinder provides approximately a third of the volume required to inflate the slide, after which it sucks in ambient air, channeled through aspirators, to reach full inflation.
