Austrian Airlines had to offload 68 passengers from a Boeing 767 in Montreal after an emergency slide on the aircraft’s left forward door was accidentally deployed at the gate on the Vienna service. Specialists removed the slide, but the affected door could no longer count as an emergency exit, leaving only 141 seats available on the long-haul flight from the 209 passengers originally booked.
The aircraft departed Montreal about 1.5 hours late and arrived in Vienna on 14 September. The Boeing 767 was then handed over to Austrian Airlines maintenance, with a replacement slide due to be installed later.
The incident happened on the ground before departure and did not lead to a cancellation, but it triggered immediate capacity restrictions and rebooking for the displaced travellers. The case underlines how a single technical error during turnaround can quickly affect widebody operations on an international route.