Description

On 3 August 2018, an Airbus A319 (OK-PET) being operated by Czech Airlines on an international passenger flight from Helsinki to Prague as OK 481 was taxiing for departure from runway 22R when the cabin crew became aware of smoke in the cabin. As it intensified, the Captain was notified and after stopping the aircraft agreed that an emergency evacuation should be performed. It was then initiated by the cabin crew but proceeded in a disorderly manner which extended the time taken and placed evacuated passengers at risk. A total of 26 of the 135 passengers sustained minor injuries during the evacuation.

Investigation

An Investigation into this Serious Incident was carried out by the Safety Investigation Authority of Finland (SIAF). Relevant data were downloaded from both the CVR and DFDR. The former ceased recording when the engines were shut down even though it should have continued recording for a further five minutes but provided useful information about the interphone conversations between the flight and cabin crew during the event. The DFDR provided useful information about aircraft systems and the manner they were used and also included the exact time when the aircraft doors were opened and when the engines were shut down. It did not record any smoke or fire warnings. Various other logs and recordings of communications between those involved in the response were also available as were airport CCTV recordings and photographs taken by passengers.