Incident Overview
On 26 January 2006, an AVRO 146-RJ100 aircraft, registration HB-IXR, operated by Swiss European Air Lines as flight LX 0815 from Hannover, Germany, to Zurich, Switzerland, was involved in a serious incident after landing at Zurich Airport. The flight had been uneventful until the aircraft reached its assigned stand.
Sequence of Events
The aircraft landed on runway 14 at 09:41 UTC and taxied to stand A-57, arriving at 09:47 UTC. While the crew was performing the parking checklist, a flash flame was observed in the area of the copilot's rudder pedals, accompanied by strong smoke. The captain immediately ordered an emergency evacuation. Because the passenger boarding bridge was already connected to the aircraft, opening the left forward door caused the emergency slide pack to fall onto the bridge floor without inflating. The crew then decided on a rapid disembarkation, and all passengers and cabin crew exited the aircraft in less than two minutes.
After the aircraft came to a stop at the stand, a ground worker from the handling service connected the external power cable to the aircraft. He then went to the finger dock to switch on the power. Immediately afterward, he noticed heavy smoke emanating from the connector area and alerted the airport fire brigade via radio.
Investigation and Cause
The investigation by the Swiss Federal Aircraft Accident Board determined that the serious incident was with high probability attributable to contamination of the dock-side connector with de-icing fluid used for airfield movement areas. This contamination led to a short circuit when the external power was switched on, resulting in the flash and smoke.
Aftermath
Following the incident, the airport operator, the maintenance company Avireal AG, and the handling service Swissport implemented various measures to prevent recurrence. These included revisions to winter service procedures and improvements to connector protection.