A321 Captain reported inadvertently deploying an escape slide at the gate shortly after arrival from a repositioning flight.
Synopsis
A321 Captain reported inadvertently deploying an escape slide at the gate shortly after arrival from a repositioning flight.
Narrative
Flew a repositioning flight from ZZZ1 to ZZZ. Entire flight was uneventful until we parked in ZZZ. Per AOM guidance we had armed one emergency slide and I was very conscious of the need to disarm the slide prior to us finishing our duties. As I was doing the shutdown checklist; I noticed the jetbridge approaching the aircraft; which would be normal except that I didn't have a flight attendant to disarm the slide and I was very aware of that. As I approached the door and looked out the window I sensed the gate agent was approaching the door very quickly - but then again; I don't have a proper frame of reference as to what the normal pace should look like because this is not a duty I normally perform. I looked back at the FO who was still in his seat and facing away from me; and frankly; I panicked a little bit that the gate agent was going to blow the slide. I know the slide handle is a confirm item; but with the FO putting his stuff away; I could not get his attention to come to the door. Unfortunately; in my haste to beat the gate agent to the door; I inadvertently grabbed the wrong handle and raised it - which deployed the slide. I did exactly the thing I was fearful the gate agent was going to do. Cause: I had to mark fatigue as a no because I did not file a fatigue report; however; I will say that I was tired. I received a call notifying me of the sequence at approximately XA:30. Then when I got to the airport for my deadhead my original FO did not show up and scheduling had to replace him. Meanwhile I was at the airport; with my duty clock running so; as of the time of the event; I had been on duty for about 11 hours. I also think the FO being relatively new was a partial cause because I felt the subconscious need to compensate for his lack of experience in doing a repositioning flight. Finally; if the gate agent had paused a little bit before approaching the aircraft; I definitely would not have felt as rushed as I did. Again; the blame still rests with me but I feel like these items contributed to my mistake.
Second reporter narrative
Captain and I arrived at ZZZ; Gate XX with a ferry flight from a MX station in Location X. We were at the shut down checklist portion of our flight when the Captain said hold on I don't want that slide to pop in the gate agent; this isn't a normal Flight attendant equipped airplane. The Captain hops up out of his seat and rushes to the main boarding door; as the jetbridge is almost stopped on the airframe. I hear the normal door kerchunk" unlocking noise with moments later in disbelief what we are all familiar hearing during our annual door training simulator that hissing sound. Might I say it's a very accurate sound we have in the training. I look back; the Captain was standing there in wide eyed with a face of disbelief and what I would characterize as "oh no" his head fell into his chest in embarrassment and shame as I think my words were "you didn't!?" Shamefully in a sinking tone the Captain said "I did". We conducted the shutdown checklist and called ops and Maintenance (MX) on the radio to inform them of the deployment; a MEL was entered. The Captain and I departed the aircraft around XM:35.Thankfully no one was injured; as of the time of the incident no damage was obvious or further reported by MX who safely removed the inflated slide. Gate agent had to move the jet bridge to help with removal of the slide and with no issues reported. Cause: Captain mentioned during the flight; fatiguing factors due to delays and First Officer manpower issues. In haste for the concern of the gate agent / jet bridge driver to not deploy the slide inadvertently the Captain rushed to try to disarm the slide. We need to create a limerick like "up the jet bridge; down the slide" for the position of the handle to help prevent this in the future. Also to note i have experienced a lot of pilots and flight attendants have unhealthy fears of the doors for fears of retaliation of accidental deployment of the slide. If we have more experience with the doors might reduce the occurrences.I briefed the Captain this is my first ferry flight. During my commute to ZZZ2 I was in search of a clear and spelled out checklist and points to check due to not having FA's. To my shock I couldn't easily find anything in the AOM or FOM that displayed anything of importance a checklist or points of importance it is generalized in my opinion. I mentioned this to the Captain; he said he was well versed and not his first ferry flight; that the company manuals are terribly convoluted. In my former company they had a full checklist and important items in bold bulletin points to make sure items were checked; conducted and not missed. What I find troubling after the fact; cleverly hidden in the text of the AOM I easily missed even with someone pin pointing about the door being a confirm item. This is not the way things should be displayed; no wonder I was unaware of this procedure and this doesn't happen more often."
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.