Accident Probe Calls for More Resources for Planning and Execution of Conscript Training

The Safety In­ves­ti­ga­tion Au­thor­ity of Fin­land (SIAF) has com­pleted an in­ves­ti­ga­tion into an ac­ci­dent that oc­curred dur­ing the Win­ter Ea­gle 23 ex­er­cise of the Finnish Army in Ivalo on March 7, 2023, and re­sulted in in­juries to two con­script para­troop­ers.

The conscripts were undertaking an airborne training exercise by performing a static line jump from a helicopter. In this mode of operation, a static line attaches the main parachute to an anchor line cable installed in the helicopter floor, and the parachute self-deploys during exit. Both injured jumpers had routed the static line incorrectly around his left arm. Therefore, during exit, the line wrapped around the biceps causing a forceful abduction. Both jumpers sustained upper arm injuries, and one of them had to terminate his military service. After recovering, he continued his military service in the Utti Jaeger Regiment in the following year’s arrival batch.

The investigation focused on the planning and execution of airborne training and on the function and performance of the quality system.

“Paratroopers are primarily trained in fixed-wing aircraft operation, and a ground trainer device for rotary-wing operation is not available. However, the conditions in a rotary-wing and fixed-wing platforms are not identical in that the interior space of a helicopter is more confined, and the anchor line cable is installed in the floor, not on the ceiling like in a fixed-wing aircraft. Injuries caused by static line entanglement had not been considered during exercise risk assessments,” explains the investigator-in-charge Janne Kotiranta.

“In this case, the conscripts also carried a fully packed, cumbersome combat rucksack, which hampered movement and exit from an inherently confined space,” Kotiranta adds, stating that the paratroopers had not conducted practice jumps with this bulky equipment.

SIAF issues three safety recommendations that address airborne operations training, the function and performance of the quality system governing this training, and safety management in general.