Incident
On December 5, 2021, at approximately 12:38 local time, a Cessna C560XL business jet collided with a metal light pole on the apron of Kemi-Tornion Airport in Finland. The aircraft was operated by Air Charter Scotland Ltd and had been parked on the apron for nearly three days since its arrival on December 2. The nose of the aircraft was oriented slightly obliquely toward the terminal building, and wheel chocks were placed in front of and behind the nose wheel.
Background
The aircraft had been parked outside in cold weather. The outside temperature on the morning of the accident was about -26°C. No auxiliary power unit was available, so engine use was required for cabin heating. Before engine start, the pilots discovered that the brake system's thermal circuit breaker had tripped, illuminating a warning light in the cockpit. After consulting the airline's line maintenance organization, the pilots attributed the brake fault to the prolonged parking in freezing conditions.
Sequence of Events
After starting the engines, the pilots gradually increased power over tens of minutes. About 30 minutes into the warm-up, the circuit breaker reset when pushed in, but the warning light remained on. As engine oil temperatures slowly rose, the pilots decided to test the de-icing systems. To do so, they increased power asymmetrically on the right engine while reducing power on the left engine.
This power change caused the aircraft to unexpectedly move forward. The rubber wheel chock in front of the nose wheel slid on a thin layer of packed snow, moving a short distance before slipping aside. The captain attempted to brake using the foot brakes, but the brakes did not respond. He reduced both engines to idle and used nose wheel steering to turn the aircraft right, away from the terminal building. However, the leading edge of the left wing struck a metal light pole at the edge of the apron.
Aftermath
Impact with the pole caused the aircraft to rotate approximately 90 degrees left and come to a stop with the nose wheel embedded in a snowbank on the apron edge. The captain shut off the fuel supply to the engines shortly after impact. The total distance traveled by the aircraft was about 20 meters, roughly a few aircraft lengths. At the time, another larger business jet from the same airline was parked about 20 meters to the right, with two ground crew workers nearby preparing it for departure.