Technical problem with new radar system at Finland's Helsinki-Vantaa airport?

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There is reportedly a technical error in the new radar system in use at Helsinki-Vantaa airport, Finland.

The system is apparently not picking up all Russian aircraft and this problem has so far caused one near-accident. The incident happened in the middle of December last year when a Finnair MD-83 aircraft coming in to land after flying from Malaga, Spain almost collided with an Aeroflot IL-62 aircraft taking off for Moscow.

There have also been other reports of Russian aircraft disappearing off the screens of the Finnish air traffic control at Helsinki-Vantaa. Jussi Haila, an expert at the accident investigation commission OTK, has said that the disappearances, which have been reported over the past couple of months, indicate that the new radar system at Helsinki-Vantaa airport does not always receive the signals of the radar transponders in the old, Soviet-built aircraft operated by Aeroflot and Pulkovo AirLines. The aircraft have however been picked up by the regional air traffic control in Tampere and Rovaniemi.

The December incident reportedly occurred at a height of two kilometres and there was, at the closest, 150 metres between the two aircraft height-wise. The recommended safe distance is 150 metres. The two aircraft were flying in opposite directions.

OTK has said that the Russian aircraft was, for an unknown reason, flying higher up than it had received permission to do from the air traffic control. The danger came from the fact that the aircraft did not show on the radar screens despite having been in the air for about five minutes.

It appears that the Russian aircraft's radar transponder signals were not received by the air traffic control nor by the collision warning system of the Finnair aircraft and as a result, the Finnair pilot was warned only five seconds before the two aircraft flew past each other. The Russian aircraft appeared on the radar screens at air traffic control at the same time. The Finnair pilot saw that there was no real danger to the aircraft and continued the flight, reported Helsingin Sanomat, a Finnish daily newspaper.

Jussi Haila has said that it is possible that the Russian pilot did not realise how close to each other the two aircraft were at the time, as they passed each other in the clouds. There has not yet been any reply from the Russian aviation authorities nor from Aeroflot regarding the incident.

The Finnish civil aviation administration and the air traffic control at Helsinki-Vantaa airport were due to meet today (10 January) to discuss the problem.

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