Emergency egress system for aircraft

An emergency egress system (1) for facilitating emergency egress of passengers/crewmembers from an aircraft (4), comprising:

• an egress panel (12) defining a peripheral edge (12.sub.E);
• a panel frame (14) disposed about said egress panel (12) and defining a peripheral edge (14.sub.E);
• a weather strip (16) defining back-to-back channels (18), said channels (18) engaging said peripheral edges (12.sub.E, 14.sub.E) of said egress panel (12) and said panel frame (14) with said peripheral edges (12.sub.E, 14.sub.E) of said egress panel (12) and said panel frame (14) each being received within a respective one of said back-to-back channels (18), said weather strip (16), furthermore, providing in-plane support of said egress panel (12) relative to said panel frame (14) in a normal operating mode;
• a plurality of retention devices (30) disposed about the periphery of said egress panel (12) for laterally retaining said egress panel (12) with respect to said panel frame (14) in said normal operating mode;
• cam means (80) operative to sequentially disengage, firstly, at least one of said retention devices (30) and actuate, secondly, said cam means (80) such that said at least one of said retention devices is released before camming action begins, in an emergency operating mode;
• whereby, following actuation, a passenger/crewmember may detach said egress panel (12) from said panel frame (14).