Safety situation in general and recreational aviation

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Safety of general and recreational aviation 2023

There were 13 serious incidents. This number is also below the ten-year average (15.9). 

Last year, the figures of all tier 2 indicators (main causes of accidents) were below the average of the previous years. 
The number of mid-air near misses (External link) was higher than in the previous year, but it, too, was still below average. The low number of situations involving loss of control in flight  (External link)was positive, because any accidents that result from situations of this kind often have serious consequences. 

The number of general and recreational aviation operations (incl. aerial work) at Finnish airports continued to decrease compared to the previous years. The number was approx. 15% lower than in 2022 and 45% lower than in 2019, the year before the coronavirus pandemic. 
A large share of general and recreational aviation takes place on uncontrolled aerodromes. More accurate information on these activities will be available in the spring of 2024, when the annual flight time statistics are finished. Based on an initial estimate, the numbers do not seem to differ significantly from the previous year. The flight hour data are based on the reports submitted by Finnish aircraft owners, which means that they have a margin of error depending on how actively the data were reported. The flight hour statistics for 2022 and earlier years are available here (External link). 

Please note that this review does not cover the situation of hang gliding and paragliding or skydiving. You can find information about them at the website of the Finnish Aeronautical Association.

Accidents

As noted, there were four accidents in 2023, which is less than half of the average for 2013-2022 (9.0). According to this assessment of the number of accidents, last year was exceptionally good, as was the year 2022 before that. Unfortunately, one person died in an accident both last year as well as the year before that. More information about the fatal accidents in 2022 and 2023 can be found in the next section below. 

Of the accidents in 2023, two occurred in recreational aviation and two in general aviation. Two of the accidents took place during landing, and in fact, landing has typically been the most common phase of flight when an accident occurs.

The number of accidents in recreational aviation (ultralight aircraft, gliders) was exceptionally low last year (2). In the past ten years, an average of 5.8 accidents have occurred per year. No one died in an accident in recreational aviation last year. There has been a clear decreasing trend in the number of accidents in the past few years.
 
In the first of the accidents last year, a combination of a towing aircraft and a glider encountered a downburst and heavy downpour that occurred rapidly in the area in Nummela at a low altitude after takeoff. The towing combination was unable to maintain the altitude, and the towing aircraft had to disconnect the glider being towed. The glider carried out an emergency landing in the forest soon after being disconnected. The glider was seriously damaged and the flight instructor and student pilot in the aircraft were injured.

In the second accident, the oil temperature started to rise rapidly during the test flight of an ultralight aircraft. The pilot turned back towards the field, but the engine stopped and the pilot had to carry out an emergency landing in a stand of pine. The aircraft was damaged, but there were no serious personal injuries.

In general aviation, the number of accidents (2) was likewise slightly below the average for 2013-2022 (3.2). One of the accidents led to a fatality. In general aviation, there have been slightly fewer accidents on average than in recreational aviation during the last 10 years. The situation has remained fairly stable in recent years, with the exception of the year 2020, when an exceptionally high number of accidents occurred. 

The pilot died in the first of the accidents last year; the case will be discussed in more detail later. In the second, a general aviation aircraft drifted off the runway, fell into a ditch next to the runway and was seriously damaged. Factors contributing to the event included deteriorated weather conditions, which may have resulted in an unstable approach and an abnormal contact with the runway.

On the whole, the safety of general and recreational aviation has developed in a more positive direction in the past ten years, especially when assessing the number of fatal accidents. One turning point was the accident involving a skydiving plane in 2014, in which eight people died. After the accident, an extensive project for developing the safety of recreational aviation (External link) (page in Finnish) was started; different kinds of tools and support functions were developed in the project to ensure that things like the safety management of flying clubs and the attitudes of aviators would develop in a more safety-oriented direction.

Even though the situation as a whole has improved compared to the previous years, it is good to keep in mind that being satisfied with the safety level reached is not enough; safety must be created again every day.
Furthermore, in general and recreational aviation, the difference between a serious incident, an accident and a fatal accident is often paper thin.
For instance, in 2019 and 2020 there were clearly more accidents than on average, while there were fewer serious incidents, and people survived accidents without any fatalities.
In contrast, the number of accidents in 2021, 2022 and 2023 was clearly below the average, while the number of serious incidents was above it. Nevertheless, one person died in an accident each year.

Accidents and serious incidents are annually made proportional to the flight hour data collected from Finnish aircraft owners. The flight hour information for 2023, the flight hour statistics, (External link) will be compiled during spring 2024. In 2022, the reporting activity level was low, and as a result, it is likely that there is a significant margin of error in the flight statistics for the year in question. According to the statistics, there were approx. 33,000 hours flown in general aviation and approx. 12,000 hours flown in recreational aviation in 2022. In the previous year when the reporting activity level was clearly higher, the figures were 45,000 and 22,000, respectively. 

The preliminary estimate is based on the figures from last year as well as information on the operations at airports. Based on it, the number of hours flown in general and recreational aviation is unlikely to differ significantly from 2022. However, the estimated numbers may differ significantly from those that will eventually be recorded in the statistics, depending on the reporting activity level.
Based on the current estimate, approx. 6.3 accidents took place in general aviation and approx. 16.7 accidents in recreational aviation per 100,000 hours flown in 2023.
The average for 2013-2022 was 8.9 accidents per 100,000 hours flown in general aviation and 23.9 accidents per 100,000 hours flown in recreational aviation. In other words, according to the preliminary estimate, last year was better than average, both in general as well as recreational aviation.

Fatalities

There was one fatality in aviation accidents in 2023. In July, a general aviation aircraft at an aerobatic show at the Selänpää aerodrome crashed to the ground and the pilot died. SIA initiated investigation L2023-02 into the incident (External link). The incident has been preliminarily classified as CFIT, but the cause will be specified when the investigation by SIA is complete. 
In 2013-2022, an average of 1.3 fatal accidents have occurred per year. 

The previous fatal accident took place in Tikkakoski in April 2022. The investigation  (External link)by SIA into the accident in question was published in June 2023. The Tikkakoski accident was most likely caused by the engine stopping due to ice or condensed fuel that had accumulated in the carburettor or inlet manifold. In fact, icing is one of the most important things to take into account during the winter season. Traficom recently updated the winter operation bulletins  (External link)so that they take the recommendations issued by SIA in the investigation into account. 

This means that individual fatal accidents occur annually, but the situation has clearly improved from 2013-2014, when four fatal accidents occurred in each year, killing a total of 18 people. In 2013-2022 an average of 2.4 persons per year died in aviation accidents.

Even though the situation as a whole has clearly improved compared to the previous years, it is good to keep in mind that safety does not develop automatically; instead, it needs an active effort by everyone involved.

Browse accident statistics starting from 2005 using an interactive and updating report here.   (External link)

List of accidents in 2023 (incl. foreign aircraft in Finland)

2. July 2023: A general aviation aircraft carrying out an aerobatic show crashed down, killing the pilot. The cause of the incident will be updated when the investigation by SIA is complete. 
3. August 2023: A general aviation aircraft drifted off the runway, fell into a ditch next to the runway and was seriously damaged. Factors contributing to the event included deteriorated weather conditions, which may have resulted in an unstable approach and an uneven contact with the runway. 
4. September 2023: The oil temperature of an ultralight aircraft started to rise rapidly during a test flight. The pilot turned back towards the field, but the engine stopped and the pilot had to carry out an emergency landing in a stand of pine. The aircraft was damaged, but there were no serious personal injuries. 

Serious incidents

There were 13 serious incidents in Finnish general and recreational aviation in 2023, which is below the average for 2013-2022 (15.9). Of the cases, nine occurred in general aviation and three in recreational aviation, and in addition, both a general and a recreational aviation aircraft were involved in one case. 

In recreational aviation (ultralight aeroplanes, gliders) the number of serious incidents (4) was below the average for 2013-2022 (7.1). The types of incidents varied fairly widely, and there is no clear common contributory factor visible. 

In general aviation, the number of serious incidents was 9, which was more or less on the level of the average for 2013-2022 (9.7). The situations occurred most commonly in connection with landing and led to a runway excursion or other damage. 
There were also mid-air near misses. There were hardly any actual technical malfunctions among the incidents; instead, most often the situation was due to the pilot’s actions. 

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

List of serious incidents in 2023 (incl. Foreign aircraft in Finland)

1. March: The ski of an experimental aircraft was damaged when it hit an icy spot under the snow during a landing on ice. As a result, the aircraft tilted forward, damaging its engine, but there were no more serious consequences.
2. April: During the landing run of an ultralight aircraft on ice, the nose wheel and the main landing gear sank down into the softened surface, rising up again on a supporting surface, after which during taxiing the nose wheel bent down under the aircraft and the blades of the rotating propeller hit the ice. The propeller was damaged as a result. 
3. April: A near miss between a general aviation aircraft and a foreign small aircraft abroad in Slovakia.
4. April: A near miss between a general aviation aircraft and a foreign ultralight aircraft during a traffic circuit abroad.
5. June: A general aviation trainer aircraft made a hard landing, after which the aircraft slid off the runway. There was no damage, however.
6. June: During a training flight, a helicopter was hovering at the start of the runway at the same time as a glider was landing on the same runway. The helicopter pilots did not notice the landing glider, and the glider pilot only noticed the helicopter during the very short final part. A collision was avoided when the glider pilot took evasive action off the runway and passed by the helicopter at a distance of a few metres. 
7. July: While an ultralight aircraft was in the cruise phase of the flight, the weather conditions deteriorated and the pilot decided to change the destination to the planned alternate airport. It was quickly discovered that the weather was poor there, too, and the weather conditions did not allow landing to the nearest airport, either. The weather conditions at Oripää Airfield were good enough for a landing. When arriving at the airfield, it was discovered that the runway was closed under a NOTAM due to an event in the airfield area. At that point, the amount of fuel was running so low that the pilot decided to land next to the runway in the area where paragliders were towed. The landing was successful and did not endanger others. 
8. July: The reduction of altitude of a glider during an approach from high was not completely successful. During the final stretch, the aircraft remained slightly “on the shelf,” which resulted in a hard landing, after which the aircraft veered to the left side of the runway and was mildly damaged.
9. July: At the end of a landing by a general aviation training aircraft in a gusty crosswind, a gust of wind raised the nose suddenly while the aircraft was tilted right, at which time the aircraft stalled at a low altitude and the right tip of the tailplane hit the runway. 
10. September: In a spot landing during a refresher training flight of a general aviation aircraft, the pilot forgot to lower the retractable landing gear of the aircraft and the landing was done with the landing gear up. The damage remained relatively minor.
11. September: A general aviation aircraft ran out of fuel during the flight, and the pilot carried out a successful emergency landing on a grainfield after the autumn harvest without any major damage to the aircraft. Wrong interpretation of the units on the fuelhawk contributed to the incident (litres were interpreted as gallons). The fuelhawk had different units from the other aircraft of the club.
12. October: A general aviation aircraft drifted off the runway during takeoff, possibly due to the left wheel locking. Personal injuries were avoided, but the aircraft was damaged.  
13. November: A general aviation aircraft drifted left during landing and hit a bump at the arrestor gear control unit at the edge of the runway and rolled 90 degrees from there to the grass. The propeller was damaged and the runway edge light was broken.