Safety situation in commercial air transport

N.B: For most up-to-date information on safety situation of commercial air transport, change language selection to Finnish. 

Safety of Commercial Air Transport 2025

Operations in Finnish commercial air transport were once again safe in 2025. However, two occurrences classified as accidents took place during the year. These did not result in any personal injuries.

The number of serious incidents decreased from the previous year but remained above the long-term average.

The war in Ukraine continued and still affected the operations of Finnish airlines in the form of longer flight routes and jamming of satellite navigation systems. Interference also occurred within Finnish airspace, but it did not cause significant impacts on flight safety. A more detailed description of the situation is presented on the Traficom website under Satellite navigation interferences in Finland (External link).

The traffic volume of Finnish commercial air transport (measured by the number of flights) was slightly lower in 2025 than in the previous year. Compared to pre-pandemic years, there were still approx. 10% fewer flights. Post-COVID traffic volumes have grown every year, but last year this growth halted.

At Finnish airports, however, the total volume of all commercial air transport (both Finnish and foreign) saw a growth of approx. 3 percent compared to the previous year. Compared to the pre-COVID year 2019, traffic volumes were still approx. 20% lower.

Regarding Tier 2 indicators (most typical accident causal factors), the largest category in 2025 was again airborne collisions and near misses. The number of such cases was slightly lower than the previous year but clearly above the average. Most occurred abroad, involving an unmanned aircraft (UAS) as the other party. Also ground collisions during taxi on taxiways and on apron occurred more often then in previous years.

Globally, in commercial air transport (aircraft certified to carry at least 14 passengers), the number of fatal accidents in 2025 was below the average of previous years. However, over 360 people perished in these accidents, which was higher than the average.

The year's most serious accident occurred on June 12, 2025, in India, when a Boeing 787 Dreamliner failed to take off and crashed. A total of 260 people on board and on the ground died in the accident.

The next most serious was an accident claiming over 60 lives, which occurred in January in Washington, when a Bombardier CRJ aircraft collided during approach with a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter flying below the approach path.

Source: Aviation Safety Network. (External link)

Accidents

In 2025, there were 2 accidents in Finnish commercial air transport, the same number as in the previous year. Both of last year’s accidents occurred in August.

In the first case, a seaplane in Lapland was departing for a taxi flight and taxiing for takeoff when, due to wind, the aircraft's floats submerged, causing the plane to capsize nose-over. The persons on board were able to exit the aircraft and survived to the shore without major injuries, but the aircraft sustained significant damage.

The second case occurred in Helsinki. A Finnish airliner started moving unexpectedly after start-up, and its rotating propellers struck a Ground Power Unit (GPU). The unit was destroyed, and the propellers suffered significant damage. The Safety Investigation Authority (SIAF) initiated investigation L2025-02 (External link) regarding the situation.

Accidents in Finnish commercial air transport, especially in scheduled operations, are extremely rare. All accidents in scheduled operations over the last 10 years have occurred while the aircraft was on the apron. There are four accident cases in total. In three of them, the issue involved some form of fall from the aircraft stairs. Moving into or out of the aircraft is perhaps the most risky part of the entire air journey.

In the previous year, 2024, two accidents occurred where passengers were disembarking via the integral stairs of an ATR 72 aircraft when the liftable part of the handrail failed unexpectedly. As a result, a passenger fell onto the apron and was injured. The investigation regarding the second accident, which happened in Helsinki (L2024-03 (External link)), was completed in October 2025. The investigation report presented recommendations to the aircraft manufacturer and the airline, among others, to prevent similar situations in the future.

Although accidents have occurred in the previous two years, the numbers are so small that chance plays a significant role. Variation in causes and causal factors is normal. The event preceding these occurred in 2020, when a cabin crew member was stepping from the upper platform of a stair truck into the aircraft. However, the stair truck started moving during the transfer, causing her to lose balance and fall from a height of about 3.5 meters, resulting in serious injury. SIAF investigated this case (investigation L2020-01) (External link).

In Finnish scheduled passenger operations, the previous accident occurred in 2005 (Copterline accident (External link)), and in other commercial air transport, the latest case happened when the landing gear of a cargo aircraft failed in Oulu (External link) in October 2016.

Accident statistics are examined by relating occurrences to aircraft flight hours. Flight hour statistics for 2025 will be collected during the spring of 2026, but according to current estimates, flight hour volumes will remain approximately at the 2024 level. This would mean approx. 286,000 flight hours. Based on this, the accident rate for 2025 would be at the same level as the previous year, i.e., approx. 0.7 accidents per 100,000 flight hours. The average for the years 2015–2024 was approx. 0.2 accidents per 100,000 flight hours.

In Finland, the target is that no accidents or fatal accidents occur in commercial air transport. Regarding accidents, the target was not achieved. However, none of the accidents resulted in death, so in this respect, the target was achieved.

You can view accident statistics from 2005 onwards in an interactive, updated report on the tieto.traficom website. (External link)

List of accidents in 2025 (incl. foreign aircraft in Finland)

1. August 2025: A seaplane departing for a taxi flight from a water area was taxiing for takeoff. There was a tailwind. During taxiing, the tips of the floats submerged and the tail rose, causing the wind to flip the aircraft nose-over. The pilot and passengers were able to exit the aircraft and made it to the shore without major injuries. The aircraft sustained significant damage.
2. August 2025: A Finnish airliner started moving unexpectedly after start-up, and its rotating propellers struck a Ground Power Unit (GPU). The unit was destroyed, and the propellers suffered significant damage. According to current information, the aircraft's parking brake was not engaged when starting the engines. The Safety Investigation Authority (SIAF) initiated investigation L2025-02 regarding the case.
   
    

Serious incidents 2024

In 2025, 9 serious incidents occurred in Finnish commercial air transport. The number was slightly above the 2015–2024 average (7.8) but lower than in the previous year.

In previous years, near misses between aircraft caused a large portion of serious incidents, but in 2025, there were fewer near misses classified as this serious.

The cases classified as serious incidents last year were very different in nature.
In few incidents smoke was detected in the aircraft during flight. 
From a passenger's perspective, one could highlight a case in April where a lithium power source in carry-on luggage started smoking during the flight, but thanks to the quick reaction of the cabin crew, more serious consequences were avoided. Nowadays, people carry a large number of electronic devices typically powered by lithium batteries, and the number of such cases has been increasing. Therefore, it is important to follow airline instructions regarding the transport of such devices. More information can be found on the Traficom website (External link).
In 2026 both Traficom as well as the European Aviation Safety Agency EASA will start a campaign on the safe transport of lithium batteries in aircraft.

In another case interesting from a regular passenger's perspective, an aircraft encountered unexpected turbulence lasting 5–10 seconds during the cruise phase, causing injury to a passenger. Situations caused by various weather phenomena, such as turbulence, have also increased in recent years. The simplest way to reduce the risk of injury caused by such a situation is to always keep the seatbelt fastened when seated, even if the seatbelt sign is not on.

Related to the issue of weather phenomena, on June 2025, the Safety Investigation Authority completed its investigation  (External link)regarding a serious incident on a Norwegian flight from Rhodes to Helsinki on August 11, 2024. Two cabin crew members were injured when the aircraft encountered turbulent air. This case does not appear in the statistics of this safety review as it occurred outside Finnish territory and did not involve aviation organizations operating under a Finnish license. Three safety recommendations were issued to the airline in question in the investigation. As stated above, the number of deviations related to various weather phenomena has been clearly increasing in recent years. Read more in the Loss of Control section.

In addition to situations occurring in Finnish aviation, there were 4 serious incidents in Finland involving foreign commercial air transport during the year. This number was clearly higher than the average of previous years.

In one case, the wing of an aircraft taxiing to the stand struck a wrongly positioned stair truck. The Safety Investigation Authority (SIAF) initiated investigation L2025-03 (External link) regarding this. In the other case, an aircraft started taxiing before the tractor pushing it could get out of the way. A somewhat similar situation happened in 2024, but then the tractor driver managed to warn the pilots on the radio frequency to stop before the collision.

In December, weather conditions at Kittilä Airport were difficult due to Storm Hannes. The runway was in good condition, but on the slippery taxiway and apron, two foreign aircraft slid and spun. One got stuck in a snowbank.

Based on the current flight hour estimate for 2025, approximately 3.4 serious incidents occurred per 100,000 flight hours, while the average for 2015–2024 was 3.0. Thus, relative to traffic volumes, the number of serious incidents was approximately at the level of the long-term average.

In Finland, the target is that in commercial air transport, the number of serious incidents relative to traffic volume (100,000 flight hours), examined as a five-year average, should be decreasing. Last year, this target was not achieved. The target was last achieved in 2023.

You can view serious incidents since 2005 in an interactive, updated report on the tieto.traficom website. (External link)

List of serious incidents 2025 (incl. foreign aircraft in Finland)

1. January 2025: Smoke in the cockpit of a foreign airliner. The pilots reported they were diverting to Stockholm. The event has been reported to the authority of the airline’s state of operation.
2. February 2025: During final approach at Rovaniemi, a foreign airliner descended significantly below the procedural approach altitude. The crew noticed the situation and performed a go-around.
3. February 2025: After landing in Helsinki, a heater was connected to a parked airliner before the necessary air vents were opened. Overpressure formed inside the aircraft, and when the cabin crew opened the door, it blew open with great force. A ground crew member was standing next to the door, so impact was avoided.
4. April 2025: During taxiing in Helsinki, smoke was observed coming from a passenger's bag in the cabin of a Finnish airliner. An overheated power bank was found in the bag, which was immediately placed in an appropriate containment container and covered with water.
5. June 2025: After a helicopter had landed, the crew decided to take off again to move the aircraft in front of another hangar. However, the crew did not notice a heating post near the aircraft. While the helicopter was being lowered to the ground, the crew detected the bottom of the aircraft hitting something and interrupted the landing.
6. June 2025: An airliner encountered unexpected turbulence during the cruise phase, lasting 5–10 seconds. The seatbelt sign was not on. One passenger fell and sustained minor injuries.
7. July 2025: A hot air balloon on a public flight bounced during landing, and the basket tipped over. As a result, one of the passengers was injured after getting caught between the rim of the basket and a person next to them.
8. July 2025: A near miss between a Finnish airliner and a foreign small aircraft near an uncontrolled foreign aerodrome.
9. August 2025: As a foreign airliner was taxiing to the stand, its wing struck a stationary stair truck located nearby. The wing and the stair truck sustained damage. SIAF has initiated investigation L2025-03.
10. October 2025: While an airliner was parked, its Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) was providing electricity for the aircraft's systems. Kerosene began to leak from the aircraft's systems onto the APU system, which started smoking heavily. The crew decided to evacuate the passengers.
11. November 2025: The flaps of an airliner did not extend, and the approach and landing had to be performed at a higher than normal speed.
12. December 2025: After landing, a foreign airliner slid on the taxiway and got stuck in a snowbank. At the same time, a smaller business jet taxiing to the apron spun 180 degrees and got stuck on another taxiway. Contributing factors included the slipperiness of the apron and taxiways combined with very strong wind. More significant damages were avoided. The airport was closed to traffic after the events until weather conditions improved.
13. December 2025: Smoke was detected onboard a Finnish airliner after takeoff. The smoke dissipated during cruise. After landing and after passengers had exited the aircraft, smoke was again detected. All remaining persons were ordered to leave the aircraft. Eventually it was discovered that reason was a broken bearing in the ventilation system.