Evacuation system with an extendable head end

An inflatable flotation device designed to be used with an aircraft, comprising:

• a main body having a distal end and a proximal end, the main body configured to inflate to provide an evacuation route to a ground surface upon which the aircraft is resting;
• a first extendable portion coupled to the proximal end of the main body and having a first plurality of segments coupled together;
• at least a first thread configured to be used to lace at least some of the first plurality of segments together;
• a first weighted object coupled to the at least the first thread and configured to loosen the at least the first thread to allow the first extendable portion to extend in response to a distance between the proximal end of the main body and a ground surface being equal to or greater than a first threshold distance, the first threshold distance being a distance at which the first weighted object is suspended above the ground surface, and the ground surface being a surface upon which the aircraft is resting;
• a second extendable portion having a second plurality of segments coupled together;
• at least a second thread configured to be used to lace at least some of the second plurality of segments together;
• and
• a second weighted object coupled to the at least the second thread and configured to cause the second extendable portion to extend in response to the distance between the proximal end of the main body and the ground surface being equal to or greater than a second threshold distance that is greater than the threshold distance, the second threshold distance being a distance at which the second weighted object is suspended above the ground surface.

An aircraft evacuation system for use in an aircraft, the aircraft evacuation system comprising:

• an inflatable flotation device having:
• a main body having a distal end and a proximal end, the main body configured to inflate to provide an evacuation route to a ground surface upon which the aircraft is resting,
• an extendable portion coupled to the proximal end of the main body and having a plurality of segments coupled together, and
• a weighted object coupled to the extendable portion and configured to cause the extendable portion to extend in response to a distance between the proximal end of the main body and the ground surface being equal to or greater than a threshold distance, the threshold distance being a distance at which the weighted object is suspended above the ground surface;
• and
• an aspirator coupled to the main body and configured to output gas to inflate the main body,
• wherein the weighted object includes a canopy pouch.