What happened
On February 15, 2006, a Dassault Falcon 20-C5 operating a passenger flight from Moscow-Domodedovo to London-Luton experienced a sudden fire and heavy smoke in the cabin while cruising at FL380. The incident began when a flight attendant, while searching a galley cupboard for plastic wrap, accidentally triggered a red cylindrical pyrotechnic signal flare. The discharge caused immediate flames and filled the cabin with smoke.
The crew initiated an emergency descent. During the descent, the cockpit side window was opened by the pilot to alleviate smoke, which significantly increased ambient noise levels in the cockpit. Due to the high noise and the crew's focus on managing the fire, critical communications from air traffic control regarding the short runway length at Kiel-Holtenau were misunderstood. The pilots believed the runway was 2,600 meters long, whereas the available landing distance was significantly shorter.
While performing an ILS approach to runway 08, the aircraft touched down at approximately 140 KIAS, which was higher than the intended approach speed. Believing they had ample runway remaining, the pilots did not utilize thrust reversers or the braking parachute. Consequently, the aircraft overran the end of the runway and came to a halt on an adjacent slope. The accident resulted in one person seriously injured and five people lightly injured.
The investigation
The BFU investigation focused on the sequence of events leading from the flare discharge to the runway excursion. Investigators examined the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) and Flight Data Recorder (FDR) to reconstruct the crew's actions and the aircraft's performance. The investigation also looked into the storage of emergency equipment, the crew's training, and the communication between the pilots and air traffic control during the emergency descent.