L2021-05 Corporate Aircraft Collision with Lamp Post during Warm-up Run at Kemi-Tornio Airport on December 5, 2021

A Cessna C560XL airplane operated by Air Charter Scotland was scheduled to depart Kemi-Tornio airport, Finland, for Edinburgh, UK, in the afternoon on December 5, 2021. The flight crew arrived at the airport in good time to prepare the airplane for the flight. The airplane had remained parked on the apron for about three days in freezing temperatures. It had to be warmed-up by running the engines because suitable heaters were not available at the airport.

During pre-start checks the low brake pressure caution light illuminated and the power brakes circuit breaker tripped. The flight crew reset the circuit breaker and continued the start-up procedure. When power was increased asymmetrically for systems testing, the airplane moved forward inadvertently. The captain applied the brake pedals to no effect, and eventually the left wing struck a metal lamp post at the edge of the apron. The accident did not result in injuries.

The flight crew had conducted an external inspection of the airplane before the warm-up run but had failed to notice that the mainwheels were not chocked. Nosewheel chocks had insufficient grip to hold the airplane stationary on the snow-covered apron during power increase. The ground handling company ground operations manual states that one mainwheel should be chocked for overnight parking. This requirement had not been complied with, and the flight crew was not informed of inadequate chocking.

Pneumatic emergency brakes were not applied, although sufficient time was available and the system was serviceable. The flight crew was lightly clad for the prevailing extremely low temperatures and felt freezing during parking cover removal and the warm-up run, which could have degraded the crew members’ physical and mental performance.

The brake system circuit breaker had tripped repeatedly and had been reset each time by the flight crew. The system caution light remained on during the entire warm-up. Circuit breaker tripping and the caution light were symptoms of an inadequately diagnosed system anomaly.

The company had not conducted a comprehensive safety assessment before operating a flight to an aerodrome where Arctic conditions could be expected. Unclearly defined responsibilities among company management contributed to a situation where potential risks related to winter operations had not been assessed.

The Safety Investigation Authority Finland recommends that
1) Air Charter Scotland prepares, documents and implements criteria for the need for safety assessment, and any time these criteria are met, responsible persons shall carry out a risk assessment encompassing all activities related to the change prompting the assessment. [2022-S32]
2) The Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom assesses management system performance and self-monitoring of compliance during audits of ground handling companies. [2022-S33]