Narrative:

While parked at the gate before any passenger had boarded, a flight attendant reported that she thought an overwing exit was not properly secured. I went back to inspect the exit, and it did possibly appear not to be sealed properly. I then mistakenly opened the overwing exit to try to readjust the exit door. Upon doing so, the overwing slide did deploy. I had completely forgotten about the slide deploying automatically. No one was injured. Maintenance responded very quickly to begin fixing my big blunder. There was going to be a lengthy delay to replace the slide with a new one. We were able to swap airplanes and complete our sequence 1 hour late in mia. Moral of the story -- don't touch anything, call maintenance. Think before you act.

Google
 

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: B757 PLT INADVERTENTLY DEPLOYED OVERWING ESCAPE SLIDE BEFORE DEP.

Narrative: WHILE PARKED AT THE GATE BEFORE ANY PAX HAD BOARDED, A FLT ATTENDANT RPTED THAT SHE THOUGHT AN OVERWING EXIT WAS NOT PROPERLY SECURED. I WENT BACK TO INSPECT THE EXIT, AND IT DID POSSIBLY APPEAR NOT TO BE SEALED PROPERLY. I THEN MISTAKENLY OPENED THE OVERWING EXIT TO TRY TO READJUST THE EXIT DOOR. UPON DOING SO, THE OVERWING SLIDE DID DEPLOY. I HAD COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN ABOUT THE SLIDE DEPLOYING AUTOMATICALLY. NO ONE WAS INJURED. MAINT RESPONDED VERY QUICKLY TO BEGIN FIXING MY BIG BLUNDER. THERE WAS GOING TO BE A LENGTHY DELAY TO REPLACE THE SLIDE WITH A NEW ONE. WE WERE ABLE TO SWAP AIRPLANES AND COMPLETE OUR SEQUENCE 1 HR LATE IN MIA. MORAL OF THE STORY -- DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING, CALL MAINT. THINK BEFORE YOU ACT.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.