Overview
- The incident, which police say occurred on 9 October 2025, involved a man on the standing regional train FEX 19854 at Berlin Brandenburg airport station who tightened a handbrake and locked the doors.
- Investigators say a separate train left the airport about 30 minutes earlier with a handbrake tightened, causing heavy smoke and an unscheduled stop at Berlin-Adlershof where crews released the brake.
- Police reported evidence that the suspect used a four-sided key known as a Vierkant to operate brake mechanisms on the trains.
- On 29 June 2026 the Amtsgericht Cottbus ordered a public manhunt and the Bundespolizei published photos of the suspect and set up phone lines for citizen tips.
- Authorities say the case remains under active investigation with no public report of an arrest, and they stress that deliberate brake tampering poses immediate danger to passengers and major disruption to rail service.