Jack Grant, founder of the Australian aviation company Qantas, developed the inflatable emergency slide for aircraft in 1965. It is activated by a ripcord action labeled above an exit door. Prior to inflatable slides, canvas slides were used that were reusable but inconvenient to rig and slow to deploy.
Inflatable emergency slides are especially designed for water evacuation. For this reason, many emergency slides, particularly those on larger aircraft, are equipped with emergency supplies like flares, paddles and extra life vests. Some emergency slides end in or detach to become inflatable rafts.
Despite the fact that emergency ramps are designed to avoid injury, they still have to be used properly by evacuees. The proper method of evacuation is leaning back on the slide with the arms folded to the chest, one person at a time. Ignoring this can cause injury to evacuees or worse, deflation of the slide.
Since slides can be deployed quickly and without warning, there are many incidents in which slides are deployed accidentally. Some companies decrease this costly risk by installing warning alarms, safety catches, clearly labeled instructions, and most valuably, proper training of flight crew.
