The slides back in the day were much narrower and in the case of the slide on the UD of a 747, did not go all the way to the ground. Back in the good old days playgrounds had slides that high that let out on cement, and we enjoyed them. Part of also, like any accident you will get people popping up after one of these incidents with their lawyers going after some sort of settlement.

As for the slide costing 60k, I could see it. These slides have to be pretty tough if they are designed to be used as life rafts in the middle of an ocean. Another big part is getting the FAA certification on this part. I can not just up and decide to start making these, I would have to go through a long process to be eligible to get these installed on aircraft.