The same "old vendor" - fully approved by the FAA - had packed ALL of Baltia's slides in the past.
Only door #5 slide was deemed an issue by the FAA, and therefore only door #5 had to be packed by a different vendor.
However, any slides that would need repacking from the time of the misfired slide discovery to present have been re-packed by the new vendor - not just door #5.
The only issue here was that there were still slides on N706BL that were packed by the old vendor but never deployed - but even the FAA did not see those as a problem.
Honestly, Baltia can be blamed for a hell of a lot of mistakes - but this isn't one of them.
The FAA approved those slides as is...and still had the "old" vendor on their approved list for doors numbered 1 through 4, since there was no historical evidence to tell them otherwise.
It is just not something that anyone could have seen coming.....but the problem itself has now been totally eliminated - and the FAA has now taken that vendor off their approved list - and will very soon require all airlines to re-pack any slides that were last worked on by this "old vendor" .....and to never use the "old vendor" again for re-packing slides.
Truth be told.....if we knew the name of the "old vendor",and with the knowledge that the "old vendor" is about to lose their FAA approval to pack slides....you could probably "short" their stock an make a quick fortune.................
(ask yourself this: if the slides from the new vendor fail to deploy....a vendor approved by the FAA for any and all airlines to use for their packing of their slides.....would Baltia be at fault for using them? If your answer is NO, then we can't hold Baltia responsible for last night's malfunctioning slides....and for that matter....neither does the FAA hold them responsible either (as a matter of fact, just the complete opposite - the FAA feels at fault for deeming the old vendor an "approved" supplier for repacking slides).
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