On 11 April 1996, a fire began inside the passenger terminal of Düsseldorf Airport, Germany, killing 17 people.

Approximately 1,000 firefighters were involved in extinguishing the blaze, which at the time was the largest fire response in the history of North Rhine-Westphalia.

[3] The fire was caused by welding work done to an expansion joint on the elevated access road of Terminal A,[3] which began at around 13:00.

[1] Droplets of molten metal started smouldering inside the polystyrene insulation on the dropped ceiling of the arrivals hall below.

[1][2] Two members of the airport fire brigade arrived on the scene a few minutes later, initially suspecting an electrical failure.

[3] Due to the thick smoke, nine passengers found themselves trapped inside the airport lounge of Air France on the mezzanine level above the arrivals hall of Terminal A.

[1] The last victim, an elderly woman, had initially escaped the fire but died two weeks later due to the consequences of smoke inhalation.

[1] Due to the effects of fire and smoke, Terminals A and B were rendered unusable, and the total damage was estimated at DM 1 billion.

Following lengthy arguments over procedural questions, the case was postponed several times and finally abandoned in 2001, without a verdict identifying those responsible for the disaster.