CE525 captain reported experiencing four or five loud bangs from the rear of the aircraft at FL390. ...

Narrative:

During cruise; heard 4-5 loud bangs. All indications remained normal; noticed no difference in flight characteristics or aircraft systems. Owner of aircraft came forward and related to me that he heard numerous loud noises emanating from aft compartment. After landing; we inspected the aircraft; and found nothing. Upon opening the aft baggage compartment; I discovered that our lift raft had deployed.raft was purchased less than 6 months prior to be in compliance with far 91.509. It was stored in baggage compartment when it was not needed to be in cabin for compliance with far 91.509.this raft is advertised as an aviation life raft. No mention of altitude/pressure restrictions in specifications or literature. I believe the blowout protection valve; and/or the entire valve assembly was defective. Representative from company called and stated that they could find nothing wrong; and had no idea what would have caused this; but offered to send me a new raft.my concern for submitting this report is to prevent this from happening to others who may be using this raft. If this raft had deployed while in passenger compartment; injury; loss of life and/or damage to the pressure vessel could have quite possibly occurred.manufacturer: revere survival inc - 6 person aero elite life raft - part number: 45-aexv

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CE525 Captain reported experiencing four or five loud bangs from the rear of the aircraft at FL390. No anomalies can be detected from the cockpit; but after landing the survival raft is found inflated in the baggage compartment.

Narrative: During cruise; heard 4-5 loud bangs. All indications remained normal; noticed no difference in flight characteristics or aircraft systems. Owner of aircraft came forward and related to me that he heard numerous loud noises emanating from aft compartment. After landing; we inspected the aircraft; and found nothing. Upon opening the aft baggage compartment; I discovered that our lift raft had deployed.Raft was purchased less than 6 months prior to be in compliance with FAR 91.509. It was stored in baggage compartment when it was not needed to be in cabin for compliance with FAR 91.509.This raft is advertised as an aviation life raft. No mention of altitude/pressure restrictions in specifications or literature. I believe the blowout protection valve; and/or the entire valve assembly was defective. Representative from company called and stated that they could find nothing wrong; and had no idea what would have caused this; but offered to send me a new raft.My concern for submitting this report is to prevent this from happening to others who may be using this raft. If this raft had deployed while in passenger compartment; injury; loss of life and/or damage to the pressure vessel could have quite possibly occurred.Manufacturer: Revere Survival Inc - 6 Person Aero Elite Life raft - Part Number: 45-AExV

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1384696
Time
Date	201607
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.ARTCC
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Citationjet (C525/C526) - CJ I / II / III / IV
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Cruise
Route In Use	Direct
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Liferaft
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100 Flight Crew Total 14000 Flight Crew Type 1200
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

CE525 captain reported experiencing four or five loud bangs from the rear of the aircraft at FL390. No anomalies can be detected from the cockpit; but after landing the survival raft is found inflated in the baggage compartment.