Plane crash in Kannonkoski occurred at unofficial airstrip on farmland

A small aircraft that crashed in Kannonkoski, central Finland, on Thursday evening went down at an unofficial landing site on private farmland, the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom) confirmed Friday.

The Safety Investigation Authority began examining the crash site early Friday morning, with police later confirming the pilot had died. Traficom’s head of air navigation and aerodromes, Kimmo Urhonen, stated that unofficial landing strips—used with the landowner’s permission—fall outside regulatory oversight.

“In practice, this was a field, not an official aerodrome that Traficom is legally required to monitor,” Urhonen said. He noted that Finland has numerous such private strips, where takeoffs and landings occur at the pilot’s own risk. “If a rock damages the aircraft, for example, the pilot bears full responsibility.”

The exact number of these informal landing sites is unknown, as operators are not required to register them. The Finnish Aeronautical Association maintains a voluntary database listing dozens of unregulated airstrips, in addition to many farmland and light aircraft strips.

Markku Valkama, chair of the Central Finland Aviation Association, told Yle that the total number of private landing areas—ranging from basic grass strips to farm fields—remains uncounted. “Some can’t even be called aerodromes,” he said. “Ultra-light landing spots may be quite common, and some pilots use their own fields.”

Traficom’s oversight covers aircraft airworthiness, pilot licenses, and formal aerodrome permits—58 of which exist nationwide—but not the suitability of private land for aviation. Operators of permitted sites must comply with aviation regulations and report any changes to authorities.

In 2016, Yle featured Kannonkoski’s grass strip, surrounded by forest, in a report on informal aviation activity.