The airliner experienced fumes and smoke in the cabin after powering back from the gate. The airplane was about 200 feet from the jetway when the captain initiated an emergency evacuation. The airplane was not damaged, and 8 of the 89 passengers sustained minor injuries during the evacuation. During the emergency evacuation, the tailcone slide deployed but did not automatically inflate. An off-duty flight attendant reported that she attempted to manually inflate the slide but that she could not locate the red manual inflation handle on the slide's girt. She observed a small metal ring near where the red manual inflation handle should have been located and tried unsuccessfully to inflate the slide numerous times by pulling on that ring. The off-duty flight attendant then blocked the tailcone exit and directed passengers to other exits. The investigation revealed an improperly rigged cable assembly due to improper maintenance of the tailcone evacuation system by the airline. Additionally, other slides were found with similar problems. The slide manufacturer, Air Cruisers, had issued a service bulletin (SB) to address the problem. On May 10, 2004, the Safety Board issued two recommendations (A-04-42 and -43) to the FAA to expeditiously issue an airworthiness directive to require operators to implement the SB on an accelerated schedule and not wait for the slides' next regularly scheduled maintenance interval, and to require operators that are operating airplanes with the affected slides inflation cables that have been improperly modified to include a manual inflation cable handle with a key ring, to reinstall new, unmodified inflation cables at the next scheduled maintenance opportunity.