Helsinki Airport is hosting a large-scale aviation accident exercise on May 26, 2026, bringing together airport operator Finavia, Finnair, Finnish air navigation service provider Fintraffic, and a dozen emergency response, medical, and law enforcement agencies to rehearse the response to a major aviation disaster.
The drill, designated SAR2026, runs from 9:00 to 15:00 local time at the airport and its immediate surroundings. Finavia said the exercise will have no impact on air traffic and that the airport will operate normally throughout. Members of the public have been asked to avoid unnecessary movement in the vicinity of the site for the duration of the drill.
Strengthening multi-agency response
The exercise is intended to sharpen the preparedness of Finnish authorities and aviation stakeholders for a large-scale accident in the airport environment, and fulfills the recurring exercise requirement set by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). Finavia uses the annual drills to test interoperability between operators, rescue services, and investigators.
Participants include Finavia, Finnair, regional carrier Norra, Norwegian, Fintraffic, the HUS hospital district, Eastern Uusimaa Police, the Central Uusimaa Rescue Department, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Vantaa-Kerava wellbeing services county’s emergency medical services and social and crisis services, the Finnish Red Cross, Finnish Customs, the Finnish Border Guard, and the Safety Investigation Authority Finland.
The lineup reflects the full chain of work that follows a serious aviation accident: rescue and firefighting, casualty triage and transport, family assistance, victim identification, border and customs processing of survivors and remains, and the launch of a formal safety investigation.
Helsinki Airport, Finland’s main international gateway, handled 16.98 million passengers in 2025.
Drill follows recent disruption at Helsinki-Vantaa
SAR2026 takes place 11 days after Helsinki-Vantaa was closed for three hours on May 15, 2026, following an emergency drone warning across the Uusimaa region, an incident that prompted the Finnish Air Force to scramble F/A-18 Hornets and led to long-haul arrivals being diverted to Stockholm and Rovaniemi. The exercise was scheduled well in advance and is unrelated to the drone incident.
The Finnish Air Force announced on the morning of May 26, 2026, that it will conduct a joint counter-drone exercise across Kymenlaakso, South Karelia, and the eastern Gulf of Finland on May 27 and 28, 2026, with F/A-18 Hornets, Army NH90 and MD500 helicopters, and a Navy readiness vessel rehearsing the identification and engagement of low-flying drone targets. The Finnish Defence Forces described the drill as part of an enhanced air defense readiness posture, and temporary restricted airspace will be in effect.
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