Tomas coordinate the eye in the sky for Rally Sweden

Tomas Rönnkvist is coordinating the helicopter traffic during the World Rally Championship in Umeå.

Rally Sweden does not just rush forward on the roads. There is always an eye in the sky over the competition.
Tomas Rönnkvist is the helicopter coordinator for Rally Sweden. 
"There will be ten machines running during the week, and my job is to make sure that everything works as it should during the week," he says.

Rönnkvist has over 26 years of experience in the aviation industry and worldwide WRC competitions. Between 2003-2011, he was responsible for his helicopter in the air for safety on the rally distances.

"We went through flights and checked that no one was in the wrong place. It did not take long before we learned people's behaviors around the stretches. Safety always came first," he says.

Together with Swedish former Swedish rally driver Mikael Ericsson (two World Cup victories in 1989) and the former safety coordinator, Jacek Bartos, for the FIA ​​World Rally Championship, Tomas Rönnkvist handled the assignment with bravura.

He then filmed the WRC rally for five years and got to live close to the world's best rally driver with a watchful eye from the cockpit.

"It took a lot of time, but I have met fantastic people worldwide and seen unique places. Every time I worked on the WRC competitions, I flew the helicopter from Luleå (250 kilometers north of Umeå) to all places. I could pass for three days before I arrived", he says.

With his experience from the WRC competitions, his mission is to coordinate the helicopter traffic during the weekend. The total helicopter fleet during Rally Sweden is mainly about passenger traffic. Still, police and ambulance traffic will also be up in the air. 

And, of course, WRC-TV's helicopters that produce and broadcast live from all distances on the WRC's website.

"It's a lot about creating good conditions with landing sites for the helicopters out on the stretches and mainly being the link between Rally Sweden and the pilots who work during the rally. It is a matter of exclusively minimizing the risks of accidents that absolutely must not happen under any circumstances and ensuring that, for example, no drones are in the air. There is a total flight ban during the competitions", says Tomas Rönnkvist.