Mid-Air Crash in Finland Claims Five Lives

A mid-air collision between two civilian helicopters above Eura, southwest Finland, on 17 May 2025 has killed all five people on board. The Robinson R-44 helicopters took off together from Tallinn’s Linnahall Heliport, bound for an aviation gathering at Piikajärvi Flight Center in Kokemäki. Wreckage was discovered in a forested area near Eura Airport around midday local time, and authorities from both Finland and Estonia are jointly investigating the cause. What happened?

What happened?

• At about 12:00 local time on 17 May 2025, two civilian helicopters collided above Eura Airport in southwest Finland, then crashed into nearby woodland.

• Both aircraft—a pair of Robinson R-44s—had departed together from Tallinn’s Linnahall Heliport in Estonia and were en route to the Piikajärvi Flight Center in Kokemäki for a weekend aviation event.

Where did it happen?

• The collision occurred roughly 100 metres apart from each other in forest near Eura Airport, close to the small town of Eura in the Satakunta region of Finland.

• Eura lies about 200 km west of Helsinki; the site is a mixed woodland area traversed by local service roads leading to the airfield.

How bad is the damage?

• All five occupants—two in one helicopter and three in the other—died on impact; there were no survivors.

• Both aircraft were foreign-registered civilian helicopters, and the twisted, burned wreckage was scattered over several hectares of dense forest.

What are authorities doing?

• Finnish police cordoned off the crash site and are conducting a forensic examination of the wreckage, with support from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

• Estonian and Finnish aviation safety investigators are cooperating to review flight-data records, radar tracks and maintenance logs to determine the sequence of events leading to the collision.

• Rescue services, including local fire and medical teams, secured the area and recovered the victims’ remains; the Defence Forces assisted in site safety and logistics.

What’s next?

• The NBI-led probe will include witness interviews (one eyewitness described seeing one helicopter “drop like a stone” after impact), trajectory modelling and expert reconstruction to pinpoint the collision’s cause.

• Organisers of the Piikajärvi aviation event have cancelled the remainder of the gathering out of respect for the victims and to allow investigators full access to evidence.

• A final accident report, expected in several months, will issue safety recommendations to prevent future mid-air collisions among civilian rotorcraft.