Safety situation in general and recreational aviation

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Safety of general and recreational aviation 2025

In 2025, 7 accidents occurred in Finnish general and recreational aviation. The number was approximately at the level of the average for the last ten years. No one perished in these accidents.

In addition, one mid-air collision involving foreign general aviation helicopters occurred in Finland, resulting in the loss of 5 lives.

There were 13 serious incidents, which was somewhat lower than the ten-year average and clearly lower than the previous year, when 22 situations were reported. As in previous years, many of the situations occurred during landing when the landing failed for one reason or another. Weather phenomena and technical failures also contributed to many cases.

When evaluated by Tier 2 indicators (most typical causal factors of accidents), none of the indicators rose above the long-term average last year. Instead, runway excursions, CFIT cases (Controlled Flight Into Terrain), and airborne near misses were reported clearly below the average.

At Finnish airports, the number of general and recreational aviation operations, including aerial work, continued to decline, now by approx. 8% compared to the previous year.

However, a large part of general and recreational aviation takes place at uncontrolled aerodromes. Data on this activity is collected from aircraft owners via the annual flight operations report. Data for 2025 will be collected during the spring of 2026. Previously in 2024, the volume of flight operations increased compared to the year 2023. Flight hour statistics are available on the Traficom website. (External link)

This review does not cover the situation regarding hang gliding, paragliding, or parachuting. Information related to these is available on the Finnish Aeronautical Association’s website.

Accidents

In 2025, there were 7 accidents in Finnish general and recreational aviation, which was slightly below the average for the years 2014–2025 (7.8). The number of accidents increased by one from the previous year. However, none of the accidents last year resulted in death. In the years 2021–2024, one fatal accident had occurred every year. One such case did occur in Finland last year, but it involved foreign helicopters; more on that below in the Fatalities section.

Of the accidents in Finnish aviation, 4 occurred in general aviation and 3 in recreational aviation. The distribution was similar to recent years. The situations were concentrated in the summer months, and as is often the case, the majority of accidents happened during landing. Locations varied, but 4 out of the 7 cases occurred in Hyvinkää and the vicinity of Jyväskylä.

The three accidents in recreational aviation (ultralight aircraft, gliding) were a lower number than the average (4.7) but higher than in the few preceding years.

Two cases involved Loss of Control (LOC-I) in flight. In the most serious of these, control of an ultralight seaplane was lost after takeoff, and it struck the water at a steep angle. The situation had the potential for a very serious outcome, but the pilot survived the crash and was able to exit the aircraft. Both the pilot and the aircraft suffered severe damage. In the other case, the engine of an ultralight failed, and control was momentarily lost during landing, resulting in a very hard landing on the runway.

In general aviation, four accidents occurred, which is slightly more than the average for the years 2015–2024 (3.1).

The first accident of the year happened in May in Forssa, when the engine of a general aviation aircraft failed after takeoff, and the pilot performed a forced landing in a nearby parking lot. The aircraft was badly damaged, but major injuries were avoided. SIAF did not conduct an actual investigation of the event but published a blog post (External link) describing the case in more detail.

Two general aviation accidents involved loss of control. In one case, the engine of a parachute jump aircraft failed, and the pilot had to perform a forced landing in a lake. In the other, a student pilot lost control of a helicopter during takeoff.

In the fourth accident, a seaplane was coming in for a landing on a water area in gusty wind conditions. During the landing, the aircraft bounced on the water and ended up cartwheeling nose-over onto its back. Fortunately, all persons on board were able to exit the aircraft.

Accidents and serious incidents are related annually to flight hour data collected from Finnish aircraft owners. The collection of data for 2025 is in progress, but according to current estimates, volumes would remain approximately at the 2024 level. If the estimate holds true, approx. 8.5 accidents per 100,000 flight hours would have occurred in general aviation in 2025 (average 2015–2024: 8.2) and 16.7 in recreational aviation (average 21.3). Both sectors would thus be approximately at or below the average.

In Finland, a target value has been set that the number of accidents in general and recreational aviation per 100,000 flight hours, as a five-year average, should be below 10. If last year's flight hour estimate is reasonably accurate, this target value would have been reached last year for the first time in the monitoring history.
 

Fatalities

In 2025, no fatal accidents occurred in Finnish aviation. Between 2021 and 2024, one fatal accident occurred each year, so last year went well in this regard.

Unfortunately, in foreign general and recreational aviation taking place in Finland, a fatal accident occurred in May at the Eura aerodrome. Estonian general aviation helicopters collided in mid-air, and all 5 persons in the helicopters perished.

The Safety Investigation Authority (SIAF) initiated investigation L2025-01 (External link) regarding the case.

Similar accidents involving foreign general or recreational aviators in Finland with such serious consequences have been rare. The previous fatal accident involving foreign general or recreational aviation occurred in 2018 in Kilpisjärvi, when a Norwegian gyroplane pilot died after the copter crashed. The Accident Investigation Board Norway conducted an investigation  (External link)into the case.

In 2024, an accident involving a historical aircraft occurred in Räyskälä, in which both German persons on board perished. Their intention was to buy the aircraft and transfer it to Germany and the German aircraft register, but at the time of the accident, the aircraft was still in the Finnish register. SIAF initiated investigation L2024-02 (External link) regarding the case, which is expected to be published soon.

Although individual fatal accidents have occurred in recent years, the safety situation has improved significantly compared to the years 2013–2014. In both years, four fatal accidents occurred, claiming a total of 18 lives.

In Finland, a target value of less than 0.6 fatal accidents per 100,000 flight hours, examined as a 5-year average, has been set. This target has not yet been 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 (including foreign aircraft in Finland)

1. May 2025: The engine of a general aviation aircraft stopped during initial climb in Forssa. The pilot managed to bring the aircraft down for a landing in a nearby parking lot, where it hit a light pole and was badly damaged, but more serious injuries were avoided. SIAF made a short report on the case.
2. May 2025: Foreign general aviation helicopters collided in mid-air and crashed. All 5 persons on board the aircraft perished. SIAF investigation L2025-01.
3. June 2025: The engine of an aircraft returning from a parachute jump flight in Jyväskylä no longer produced power, and the pilot had to make a forced landing, which ended in a pond near the airfield. The pilot escaped the sinking aircraft without major injuries. The aircraft was badly damaged.
4. June 2025: An ultralight aircraft was on a test flight after maintenance in Hyvinkää when engine power was lost in the traffic circuit. The pilot returned for a landing on the runway, but the landing was hard, resulting in the pilot being injured upon hitting their head on the instrument panel, and damage to the aircraft's landing gear, nose, and propeller.
5. July 2025: A general aviation seaplane was landing on a water area in gusty wind conditions. While performing the landing, the aircraft bounced on the water, and on the last bounce, the aircraft swung, and the nose of the right float hit a wave. This caused a cartwheel where the aircraft spun around the left wing, turning nose towards the direction of arrival and flipping nose-over onto its back. The aircraft sank resting on its floats. The pilot helped the other person on board out of the aircraft. The aircraft was badly damaged.
6. August 2025: A motor glider made a hard landing, resulting in considerable damage to the landing gear, propeller, and fuselage, but the pilot survived without major injuries. According to the pilot's assessment, the cause of the hard landing was a lack of airspeed. Contributing factors were pilot error and/or a sudden change in wind conditions. A re-evaluation of the principles of using airbrakes on theaircraft type in question is proposed.
7. October 2025: An ultralight seaplane entered a cloud after takeoff from a water area. The pilot reduced altitude to get out of the cloud. Upon exiting the cloud in a turn to final, the nose pitched down unexpectedly and steeply towards the water surface. The pilot could not recover the aircraft by pulling and adding power, and the ultralight struck the water surface at a steep angle. The pilot escaped unassisted but was injured, and the aircraft was badly damaged.
    

Serious incidents

In 2025, a total of 13 serious incidents occurred in Finnish general and recreational aviation, clearly fewer than the previous year (22) and also fewer than the average for 2015–2024 (17.0). 8 cases occurred in general aviation and 5 in recreational aviation. The ratio was similar to previous years.

The incidents were concentrated in the summer months. Most often, a serious incident occurred in connection with landing due to a failed landing. The cases occurred very variably across Finland at both uncontrolled and controlled aerodromes. Kokkola and Nummela both had 2 situations.

The number of serious incidents in recreational aviation (5) remained below the average of previous years. The majority involved a hard landing caused by either technical faults or wind conditions.

In general aviation, the number also remained lower than the average of previous years. In these cases, there was more variation regarding both the phase of flight and the type of event. In one case, a fire broke out in the engine compartment during start-up due to excessive priming, but more serious consequences were avoided thanks to quick extinguishing measures. Other situations involved departure from or landing on a runway without clearance (i.e., runway incursions (External link)) as well as hard or otherwise abnormal landings (External link).

Accidents and serious incidents are related annually to flight hour data collected from Finnish aircraft owners. The collection of data for 2025 is in progress, but according to current estimates, volumes would remain approximately at the 2024 level. If the estimate holds true, approx. 17 serious incidents per 100,000 flight hours would have occurred in general aviation in 2025 (average 2015–2024: 26.3) and 27.9 in recreational aviation (average 33.6). Both sectors would thus be clearly below the long-term average.

The target set in Finland for serious incidents is a decreasing number relative to 100,000 flight hours, examined as a 5-year average. If the estimate of the number of flight hours holds reasonably true, this target was achieved last year.

Browse statistics on serious incidents starting from 2005 using an interactive and updating report here   (External link)

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

1. January: A general aviation aircraft performed a takeoff at the same time as a sweeper vehicle was on the same runway maintaining it. However, a collision was avoided. The pilot had announced the takeoff on the radio frequency monitored by the vehicles, but they did not manage to move off the runway before the takeoff.
2. February: After start-up on the apron, a general aviation aircraft started moving unexpectedly despite the parking brake being on. The pilot pulled the handbrake and removed power, but the aircraft continued to advance on the snow-covered, icy, and downward-sloping apron, finally striking another aircraft with its wingtip, damaging it. The pilot estimated that the event was influenced by the fact that the aircraft had been stored in a warm hangar, and when moved outside, the tires were also warm and more slippery on the snow than cold ones, causing the brakes not to be sufficiently effective.
3. March: The landing gear of a general aviation aircraft did not extend normally due to an electrical fault. The pilot performed emergency landing gear extension procedures, but the gear only extended partially. The electrical fault also affected the aircraft's radios, so air traffic control could not be informed of the landing gear situation. Upon landing, the gear collapsed, and the aircraft made a belly landing on the runway. Major damage was avoided.
4. May: An ultralight aircraft pilot had forgotten the throttle at full power when starting the engine. As a result, the aircraft immediately started moving and ended up crossing the taxiway into swampy terrain where it stopped after the nose wheel broke. The propeller was damaged, but otherwise, there were no significant damages or injuries.
5. June: An ultralight aircraft on a training flight made a hard landing, and the corrective action also caused the tail to strike the runway. A contributing factor was a tailwind gust. The aircraft was damaged, but more serious consequences were avoided.
6. July: A moment after takeoff, the pilot of a general aviation aircraft observed smoke coming from behind the instrument panel. The pilot managed to return for a landing at the departure site and found charred wires behind the instrument panel.
7. July: An ultralight aircraft pilot encountered strong wind gusts during landing, leading to a bounced landing on the runway, and finally, the aircraft spun off the runway. At the same time, the nose gear collapsed under the aircraft.
8. July: At the beginning of a training flight, a simulated engine failure on takeoff was performed. Recovery from the situation failed, and the landing was hard, resulting in damage to the landing gear and propeller.
9. July: A general aviation aircraft landed on a closed section of the runway. Due to construction work at the airport, the runway threshold had been displaced, and the area preceding it was closed. However, more serious consequences were avoided.
10. August: The engine of an ultralight aircraft began to run poorly during the flight, and the pilot decided to make a forced landing in a nearby field. The landing was otherwise successful, but the aircraft hit a traffic sign during the landing.
11. August: A glider tow plane made a hard landing, resulting in damage to the aircraft's propeller. Contributing factors were turbulent wind conditions.
12. October: An ultralight aircraft pilot noticed during a traffic circuit flight that the engine RPMs would not drop, so there was too much power to perform a landing. The pilot decided to shut down the engine and performed a successful landing with the engine off. The cause was found to be a broken return spring on the carburetor lever.
13. October: The engine of a general aviation aircraft caught fire during start-up. The pilot extinguished the fire with a handheld extinguisher. A contributing cause was excessive priming during start-up. It was later also discovered that there was a fault in the primer line connection, causing fuel to leak onto the lower engine cowl.