A potentially dangerous incident occurred at Helsinki-Vantaa Airport on Wednesday evening, when a twin-engine turboprop aircraft operated by Lithuanian Transaviabaltika had to return to the airport with one propulsion engine after departure to Savonlinna.
Pilot Erwin Jonker told Helsingin Sanomat that the engine on the right had a malfunction shortly after take – off and was shut down to avoid further damage.
The pilots called the air traffic control and asked for permission to return to Helsinki-Vantaa.
There were two passengers in the plane. The fault caused a serious situation, Jonker said, but no one was in danger.
"The plane was surprisingly easy to fly, even with a single engine. The simulator was more difficult," he told HS.
A subsequent inspection revealed that the transmission of the defective engine was broken. The company’s trustee, Jyri Koponen, told Yle that the warranty would cover the part and the transmission could be repaired quickly.
The company’s spare aircraft operates on the route between Helsinki and Savonlinna when the other aircraft is out of service. Transaviabaltica does not operate on other routes in Finland. In Estonia, the company operates air services between Tallinn and Kรคrdla.
According to Finavia, this was not a forced invoice, but Jari Pรถntinen, The Director of Aviation at the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom) told Helsingin Sanomat that it must be classified as a dangerous situation. Yle also reached Pรถntinen, but said he wanted to wait for the airline’s report on the situation before commenting further.
Based on current information, the Safety Investigation Board is unlikely to investigate the case.
Source: The Nordic Page