L2022-01 Ambulance Helicopter Accident in Åland on February 12, 2022

On February 12, 2022, the Åland Islands public safety answering point (PSAP) received an emergency call indicating that an individual had sustained injuries in a falling accident on an icy yard on the outlying island of Fiskö in the municipality of Brandö. A paramedic field supervisor decided to dispatch an ambulance helicopter that was on standby on Åland mainland to the accident site. He based this decision on the nature of the patient’s injuries, the remote accident location, and the expected extended duration of road transfer.

The helicopter took off immediately, and the crew received revised landing site coordinates en route. The landing site was a confined yard of a farmhouse. While the crew focused on checking the surroundings of the landing site, they failed to notice that the site was partially ice-covered. The helicopter set down with the skis only partially on gravel. The pilot set the engines to idle, and the helicopter began to slide tail first. The main rotor blades and fuselage impacted a boat shed. The helicopter sustained substantial damage and one crew member was slightly injured.

A crew member called the PSAP, which initiated a rescue operation. Rescue department, paramedic and police department units proceeded to Brandö on Border Guard patrol boats. A Border Guard search and rescue helicopter was dispatched to transport the patient and the accident helicopter crew to Mariehamn.

Rescue services in Åland are managed by the region’s municipalities and the province is divided into two rescue service areas for operational command and control. The Government of Åland is under the Rescue Act for the Region of Åland responsible for the direction and oversight of rescue services in the region. This arrangement has presented challenges. Anomalies have been noted in the transmission of emergency call location information and in the operation of the Emergency Response Center Agency’s 112 Suomi application in Åland.

In order to avoid similar accidents and mitigate their consequences, the Safety Investigation Authority of Finland (SIAF) recommends that the Government of Åland ensures compliance with the following safety recommendations:

• The Government of Åland takes action to ensure the implementation of statutory direction and oversight functions in order to ensure preparedness for major accidents at municipal level and to ensure the smooth conduct of rescue operations between the two rescue service areas considering the needs of persons residing in or visiting Åland in the event of accidents.
• The Government of Åland takes action to ensure that location information is transmitted in emergency calls and the 112 Suomi application is enabled across Åland.

The SIAF also recommends that Åland Health Care District ensures compliance with the following recommendation:

• Åland Health Care District cooperates with Babcock Scandinavian AirAmbulance, public safety answering point and municipal rescue services to expand the instructions for the use of first response units to support non-urgent helicopter emergency medical service operations in the archipelago.

In order to avoid similar accidents and mitigate their consequences, the SIAF recommends that

• the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) informs helicopter operators of a need to fit slide stoppers on the landing skids for operations in winter and under slippery conditions.