L2025-02 Collision of Airplane with Ground Power Unit at Helsinki Airport on August 16, 2025

01.10.2026

An airplane parked on a remote stand rolled forward during engine start and struck a ground power unit (GPU). Investigation found that the airplane’s parking brake had not been engaged. The collision did not result in injury to persons but the airplane and the GPU sustained damage.

The airplane had been towed to the stand by a ground handling service provider’s employee. The applicable procedure states that the tug operator shall engage the parking brake on completion of towing when this is necessary. The flight crew is also required to engage the brake and verify handle position during pre-start preparations. No specific procedure had been established for the handover of responsibilities between the tug operator and the flight crew.

The ground handling service provider’s dispatcher assisted the flight crew in pre-departure preparations outside the airplane. Because he had no verbal communication with the flight crew, he communicated with the crew using hand signals. The dispatcher was signaled to remove the wheel chocks and disconnect the GPU. While undertaking these tasks he turned around, saw the airplane coming toward him, and dashed to safety before the airplane struck the GPU. The dispatcher did not show the “verify/set parking brake” signal during engine start. Although the ground handling service provider’s manual mentions the hand signal, it is not usually shown.

The ground handling service provider recognized that work practices have occasionally deviated from management system procedures, and the same applied to the airplane operator’s manuals vs. work practices. Investigation determined that the occurrence resulted from non-adherence to procedures.

The flight crew’s post-occurrence actions were not completed fully. Because the crew did not declare a distress or urgency condition, alerting was made belatedly and delay was experienced in building situational awareness. Compliance with standard phraseology and communication practices is important in the event of an accident in order to ensure timely and adequate emergency response. Lack of direct communication between the rescue units and the flight crew hampered building of common situational awareness. A common radio frequency should be available for communication between flight crews and rescue services.

In order to improve aerodrome safety, the Safety Investigation Authority Finland issued the following safety recommendations:

1. Norra specifies procedures for the assessment and development of cockpit procedures and crew resource management. [2026-S010]

2. Norra and Airpro cooperate to introduce specifying information in their manuals and improve oversight of compliance with manuals in areas related to operational interfaces. [2026-S011]

3. Finavia, Finavia’s rescue service and Fintraffic Air Navigation Services cooperate to ensure that procedures prescribed in their manuals for direct radio communication between flight crews and rescue units are applied whenever necessary, and that personnel and operators are informed of the procedure. [2026-S012]

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