Incident Overview
On 19 December 2025, SAS Airbus A320 (registration EI-SIL) was preparing for departure from Helsinki-Vantaa Airport to Copenhagen. After normal pre-departure procedures, a pushback tractor operated by Airpro pushed the aircraft from the parking stand to the taxiway around 15:30. The tractor driver disconnected the tractor from the aircraft's nose gear and reversed a few meters. He then walked under the aircraft fuselage to the nose gear area and connected his headset cable to the aircraft to communicate with the pilots. Returning to the tractor with the intent to drive it away from the front of the aircraft, he found the tractor would not move. He went back under the aircraft to reconnect the headset, but noticed the aircraft was already moving forward. The driver ran to the front of the aircraft and signaled the pilots to stop, but the nose gear wheel struck the tractor before the aircraft could come to a halt. The flight was canceled and passengers disembarked via bus back to the terminal.
Aftermath and Investigation
The incident resulted in no damage to the aircraft and no injuries. The sequence of events was confirmed by the aircraft's recorders, airport surveillance video, and interviews with involved personnel. The Safety Investigation Authority of Finland (OTKES) examined the pushback tractor and found no technical faults. The tractor driver had extensive experience but had rarely used that particular tractor model, which was the only one of its type at Helsinki-Vantaa operated by Airpro.
Contributing Factors
The pilots, while completing the after-engine-start checklist, assumed the tractor had departed because they could not see it from the cockpit (it remained under the nose) and no warning light for nose wheel steering disconnection was displayed. Their prior experience at other airports, where tractors sometimes left without signaling the OK thumb gesture, influenced this assumption. The standard disconnection procedure requires verbal communication including setting the parking brake, disconnecting the bypass valve, and obtaining permission to disconnect the headset, followed by the tractor moving to the side and the operator giving an OK signal. In this event, the tractor driver did not complete the procedure due to his difficulty moving the tractor.
Conclusion
OTKES assessed that no significant additional safety information could be gained from a full safety investigation and decided not to launch one. The report emphasizes the importance of adhering to standard operating procedures for safe ground operations.