So... I saw an old training film to the MD 80 on the Emergency Exits, and it covered something completely new to me. The Tailcone Emergency Exit. And i wondered, is it operational on Delta and American, Allegiant is a long shot with their shoddy maintenance.

It is still operational, but very rarely used anymore in normal ops. I've seen it used one time for passenger enplanements in the last 5 years. That was a Delta MD-88 at Grand Cayman. Since it is an emergency exit, I believe it has to be kept operable, in the event it is needed in an emergency. They also use them somewhat regularly for maintenance/ground crews/etc.

PanzerPowner wrote:

Allegiant is a long shot with their shoddy maintenance.

What exactly is this supposed to mean?

Emergency exits are overrated, might as well weld it shut right?

ual763 wrote:

It is still operational, but very rarely used anymore in normal ops. I've seen it used one time for passenger enplanements in the last 5 years. That was a Delta MD-88 at Grand Cayman. Since it is an emergency exit, I believe it has to be kept operable, in the event it is needed in an emergency. They also use them somewhat regularly for maintenance/ground crews/etc.

I think the OP is talking about something different. Passenger enplanements would use the rear stairs, but there's also video of an emergency tailcone exit and slide -- where the tailcone itself pops off to provide an exit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLFJcA3Hlgo

I’m not sure what you mean with using the emergency exit? The emergency exit and rear air stairs are really two separate devises when it comes to the MD-80. The emergency exit involves the tail cone being ejected from the main fuselage and an inflatable slide that is used for emergency egress. The rear airstairs is used for normal operations and is not considered an emergency exit.

I’m also not sure what you are implying with Allegiant and their maintenance with the rear airstairs, but I can tell you for certain that Allegiant is probably the only airline in the United States that still utilizes the rear airstairs in normal passenger operations. Just last week we depalined in Grand Island using the rear air stairs.

PanzerPowner wrote:

So... I saw an old training film to the MD 80 on the Emergency Exits, and it covered something completely new to me. The Tailcone Emergency Exit. And i wondered, is it operational on Delta and American, Allegiant is a long shot with their shoddy maintenance.

It's required on the MD-80/90. Most airlines do not use it for loading/unloading passengers but it cannot be shut off. Only the 717 was certified without it operational.

twa727 wrote:

ual763 wrote:

It is still operational, but very rarely used anymore in normal ops. I've seen it used one time for passenger enplanements in the last 5 years. That was a Delta MD-88 at Grand Cayman. Since it is an emergency exit, I believe it has to be kept operable, in the event it is needed in an emergency. They also use them somewhat regularly for maintenance/ground crews/etc.

I think the OP is talking about something different. Passenger enplanements would use the rear stairs, but there's also video of an emergency tailcone exit and slide -- where the tailcone itself pops off to provide an exit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLFJcA3Hlgo

In normal passenger operations the stairway lowers and people walk out. In an emergency the stairway does not lower and the tail pops off and a slide is used. If I remember right. It's been years sense I've seen it used in an emergency.

PanzerPowner wrote:

Allegiant is a long shot with their shoddy maintenance.

Care to substantiate this statement?

Goodyear wrote:

PanzerPowner wrote:

Allegiant is a long shot with their shoddy maintenance.

Care to substantiate this statement?

From the top of my memory. A vauge memory of either a mini documentary or Airliners.Net forum on Allegiant's maintenance and the FAA. Also just the general discussion amongst some chaps on discord with it's lineage and upper staff stemming from ValuJet.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

The only time I used these stairs was exiting an Allegiant MD-83 at Mesa, AZ in August 2014.

rbavfan wrote:

PanzerPowner wrote:

So... I saw an old training film to the MD 80 on the Emergency Exits, and it covered something completely new to me. The Tailcone Emergency Exit. And i wondered, is it operational on Delta and American, Allegiant is a long shot with their shoddy maintenance.

It's required on the MD-80/90. Most airlines do not use it for loading/unloading passengers but it cannot be shut off. Only the 717 was certified without it operational.

The 717 still has an emergency exit in the tail cone. No passenger loading/unloading because it doesn’t have stairs, but instead an inflatable slide.

PanzerPowner wrote:

Goodyear wrote:

PanzerPowner wrote:

Allegiant is a long shot with their shoddy maintenance.

Care to substantiate this statement?

From the top of my memory. A vauge memory of either a mini documentary or Airliners.Net forum on Allegiant's maintenance and the FAA. Also just the general discussion amongst some chaps on discord with it's lineage and upper staff stemming from ValuJet.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

So because you read about Allegiant Maintenance problems on Airliners.net you assume they would operate an airplane illegally without required equipment? You do realize an emergency exit is 100% a no go item if there is anything wrong with it?

I dropped my Super 80 qualification years ago but yes, they are still operable. Each year, the Super 80 qualified flight attendants at AA must do recurrent training drills on the tailcone simulator. I only flew the Super 80 something like 8 times in my 34 years so dropping the qual was a no-brainer for me.

PanzerPowner wrote:

Goodyear wrote:

PanzerPowner wrote:

Allegiant is a long shot with their shoddy maintenance.

Care to substantiate this statement?

From the top of my memory. A vauge memory of either a mini documentary or Airliners.Net forum on Allegiant's maintenance and the FAA. Also just the general discussion amongst some chaps on discord with it's lineage and upper staff stemming from ValuJet.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

What you are insinuating would ground the airline. I assume (but don’t know) that the rear airstairs can be a MEL item, but if the slide is inoperable and they take off then the FAA would ground them so fast it’d make your head spin.

Used the tailcone stairs to get out of an MD-88 at Atlanta last December, albeit not under normal ops

twa727 wrote:

ual763 wrote:

It is still operational, but very rarely used anymore in normal ops. I've seen it used one time for passenger enplanements in the last 5 years. That was a Delta MD-88 at Grand Cayman. Since it is an emergency exit, I believe it has to be kept operable, in the event it is needed in an emergency. They also use them somewhat regularly for maintenance/ground crews/etc.

I think the OP is talking about something different. Passenger enplanements would use the rear stairs, but there's also video of an emergency tailcone exit and slide -- where the tailcone itself pops off to provide an exit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLFJcA3Hlgo

How do they make sure that the dropped tailcone doesn’t get in the way of the slide deploying? In the video, it’s immediately carted off, but that wouldn’t be an option in a real emergency.

OB1504 wrote:

How do they make sure that the dropped tailcone doesn’t get in the way of the slide deploying? In the video, it’s immediately carted off, but that wouldn’t be an option in a real emergency.

On the MD-80, there is a cable system designed so that the tail cone falls to one side during deployment. The MD-90 has a small nitrogen bottle installed in the tail cone that vents when deployed. The nitrogen exhaust jettisons the cone away from the airplane.


http://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/25651/was-this-a-successful-deployment-of-an-md-88-tail-cone-evacuation-slide

cbphoto wrote:

You do realize an emergency exit is 100% a no go item if there is anything wrong with it?

Depends on the aircraft. Emergency exits can be inoperative but you're blocking off many seat rows.

OB1504 wrote:

twa727 wrote:

ual763 wrote:

It is still operational, but very rarely used anymore in normal ops. I've seen it used one time for passenger enplanements in the last 5 years. That was a Delta MD-88 at Grand Cayman. Since it is an emergency exit, I believe it has to be kept operable, in the event it is needed in an emergency. They also use them somewhat regularly for maintenance/ground crews/etc.

I think the OP is talking about something different. Passenger enplanements would use the rear stairs, but there's also video of an emergency tailcone exit and slide -- where the tailcone itself pops off to provide an exit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLFJcA3Hlgo

How do they make sure that the dropped tailcone doesn’t get in the way of the slide deploying? In the video, it’s immediately carted off, but that wouldn’t be an option in a real emergency.

The shape of the tailcone also helps. It tends to roll away from the aircraft. In Test drops a catch stand is used because the tailcone may get damaged when it hits the ground. If you catch it, then it can be reinstalled after you install a new slide.

Sean-SAN- wrote:

Emergency exits are overrated, might as well weld it shut right?

Great plan, but 2024-T3 aluminum is not really weldable.
Emergency equipment will almost never be used on most aircraft but if it is ever needed, it must work as designed with 100% reliability.
Disabling or tampering with emergency equipment on an aircraft will get you hard time in a Federal Prison if you are caught.

PanzerPowner wrote:

Goodyear wrote:

PanzerPowner wrote:

Allegiant is a long shot with their shoddy maintenance.

Care to substantiate this statement?

From the top of my memory. A vauge memory of either a mini documentary or Airliners.Net forum on Allegiant's maintenance and the FAA. Also just the general discussion amongst some chaps on discord with it's lineage and upper staff stemming from ValuJet.

Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

You have got to be kidding me.
Sure, Allegiant is a crummy airline. We've all more or less come to that conclusion. (though I do think they're improving...)
But, I mean, labor strife, poor management, and bad maintenance somehow leads you to the conclusion that they're locking emergency exits shut?
For what purpose? To save money? Because you think it's cheaper to start randomly picking exits to deactivate? I guess they just don't have enough escape slides in the budget?
I mean.... you should probably hang up your airliners.net hat and go apply to be a daytime CNN "anchorperson." You're already quite qualified.

PanzerPowner wrote:

Allegiant is a long shot with their shoddy maintenance.

This is a statement made from ignorance. The OP clearly does not understand how a certificated airline operates a certificated aircraft.

I found a copy of the MMEL on-line, hopelessly out-of-date, but I don't think the stairs or emergency exit would change much. There is no provision to MEL the emergency exit. There are provisions to MEL the ventral stairs, so long as the emergency exit is operative.

fr8mech wrote:

PanzerPowner wrote:

Allegiant is a long shot with their shoddy maintenance.

This is a statement made from ignorance. The OP clearly does not understand how a certificated airline operates a certificated aircraft.

I found a copy of the MMEL on-line, hopelessly out-of-date, but I don't think the stairs or emergency exit would change much. There is no provision to MEL the emergency exit. There are provisions to MEL the ventral stairs, so long as the emergency exit is operative.

Just to be clear, there is one case an airline can lock out the rear stairs. That is when the available passenger seats are below a certain quantity. For example, an MD-80 freighter or a combi.

It should also be allowed for a extreamely low density (business jets <=19 seats) configuration.

Ok, a nitpick, I'm not aware of any certified MD-80 combi, nor business jet.

But Allegiant? No. I'd fly them. I haven't as how I prefer to travel and to where costs more on an ULCC every time I looked. Cest la vie.

Besides, in 8 months they are done with the MD-80s.

Lightsaber

lightsaber wrote:

Ok, a nitpick, I'm not aware of any certified MD-80 combi, nor business jet.

Lightsaber

Wasn't Playboy/Hugh Hefner's all-black personal aircraft from the 70s a DC-9? Not specifically an MD-80 if it was, but same operating certificate and subject to the same rules and regs with regard to emergency exits.

To sum up the other answers from this thread, the tailcone exit on MD-80s serves the same function as the rearmost starboard emergency exit on other aircraft, so yeah, they are kept operational.

TSS wrote:

lightsaber wrote:

Ok, a nitpick, I'm not aware of any certified MD-80 combi, nor business jet.

Lightsaber

Wasn't Playboy/Hugh Hefner's all-black personal aircraft from the 70s a DC-9? Not specifically an MD-80 if it was, but same operating certificate and subject to the same rules and regs with regard to emergency exits.

To sum up the other answers from this thread, the tailcone exit on MD-80s serves the same function as the rearmost starboard emergency exit on other aircraft, so yeah, they are kept operational.

Half correct, The cabin door and the tailcone slide are the emergency exit. The aft ventral stairs are not an emergency exit. They can be inoperative for flight. The stairs can not be opened from inside the aircraft. That function was deleted after the 727 D.B. Cooper hijacking.

Can an emergency exit be deactivated? Yes, There presently are many aircraft flying with deactivated emergency exits. Many of the Boeing 739 are configured with a seat density that does not require the doors aft of the wing. They are still there. You can see the outline of the door from the outside. From inside they are hidden by a normal looking sidewall panel. Behind the panel is a door that is bolted shut. If you take out the bolts it opens. No slide is installed when it is deactivated.

TSS wrote:

Wasn't Playboy/Hugh Hefner's all-black personal aircraft from the 70s a DC-9? Not specifically an MD-80 if it was, but same operating certificate and subject to the same rules and regs with regard to emergency exits.

To sum up the other answers from this thread, the tailcone exit on MD-80s serves the same function as the rearmost starboard emergency exit on other aircraft, so yeah, they are kept operational.

Edit: wrong rich guy. PanAm maintained Forbes’ “Capitalist Tool”, a B727. Hefner’s “Big Bunny” was a DC-9.

From my limited knowledge of the -80 and its variants, it appears the stairs are not part of the emergency exit, thus can be inoperative as limited by the MEL. Since it is absent from the MMEL I located, I suspect the emergency exit must be operative, unless the aircraft has had a configuration change, e.g. freighter.

This video does a pretty good job of showing the difference between the emergency exit and the ventral stairs. The green path to the emergency exit folds up and becomes the ceiling of the ventral stairway.

https://youtu.be/P4DM0xF7xTE