Seconds into their takeoff roll at Cologne/Bonn Airport, the crew of the ATR 72-212 felt “several blows to the airplane” and realized that objects they could not identify were flying off the ATR 72, the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) said in its final report on the April 27, 2020, serious incident.
An ‘Understandable’ Mix-Up
German investigators say an ATR 72 crew confused runway edge lighting and centerline lighting before the misaligned takeoff.