History of Flight
On 19 March 2006, the AVRO 146-RJ100 aircraft, registration HB-IXS, operated by Swiss European Air Lines as flight LX 639, took off from Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport at 14:38 UTC for a scheduled flight to Zurich Airport. The takeoff, cruise, and approach were normal. At 15:28:53 UTC, the crew received landing clearance for runway 14. Seconds before touchdown, the copilot noticed smoke developing on the right side of the cockpit and immediately informed the commander. The landing was uneventful.
After landing, while still on the runway, the crew observed an increase in smoke in the cockpit. The source could not be identified; the smoke was blue with no discernible smell. The flight crew did not don oxygen masks. During the landing roll, the crew requested the fire brigade via tower frequency. The aircraft was stopped on taxiway H1.
Once stopped, the smoke density in the cockpit decreased. The copilot asked the senior flight attendant whether smoke was present in the cabin, and received a negative response. The commander then decided, in agreement with the copilot, to taxi to the assigned stand A49. While obtaining clearance to continue taxiing, the commander monitored internal communication between flight attendants and heard a report from the rear cabin that there was smoke. The senior flight attendant confirmed smoke in the cabin, though not much, but with an odor.
The aircraft was parked in the area of taxiway H1 and the engines were shut down. The commander immediately decided to evacuate passengers and crew. At 15:33:02 UTC, the crew declared a mayday and initiated evacuation. All four emergency slides were deployed, and evacuation was completed in less than 90 seconds with support from the fire brigade. No further fire brigade intervention was necessary. No passengers or crew were injured, though some passengers did not adopt the proper sliding position. The airport was closed for 12 minutes due to concentration of fire brigade forces.
Injuries and Damage
According to the report, there were no fatalities, serious injuries, or injuries among the 4 crew members and 95 passengers. The aircraft sustained no damage.
Cause
The serious incident is very probably attributable to the fact that smoke from the auxiliary power unit (APU) entered the aircraft via the air conditioning system.