- Two crew members have been killed after two helicopters collided mid-air in Greece while battling wildfires.
- The fatalities were a Danish pilot and a Greek fire service liaison officer.
- A British pilot and another Greek co-ordinator on the second helicopter survived.
- Video of the incident shows one of the two Bell helicopters hitting the propellers of the other, which bursts into flames and crashes in a ravine.
- The other aircraft made an emergency landing.
- Wildfires have broken out in Greece this week, prompting mass evacuations.
- According to the Greek Fire Service, the two leased Bell helicopters collided while taking part in efforts to tackle a large wildfire burning on the Attica-Boeotia border.
- The crew members of one aircraft were rescued alive, while the second crew were recovered unconscious and later pronounced dead.
- Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his "deepest sorrow" over the accident.
- In a post on X, he said the loss of the Greek coordinator and Danish pilot "fills us all with grief".
- According to protocol, all Bell helicopters across the country have been grounded.
- The collision laid bare the danger at the most volatile front of Europe’s wildfire emergency.
- Greece has faced extreme weather conditions and winds that often reached 100 kilometres an hour.
- Firefighters were attempting to keep the fire from approaching the western outskirts of Athens after it scaled a mountain overnight.
- Earlier this week, fires on the islands of Crete and Paros affected another 6,000 hectares.
- By Sunday, wildfires in Greece had devastated over 12,000 hectares of forest and agricultural land.
Two crew members, a Danish pilot and a Greek fire service liaison officer, died when two Bell helicopters collided while battling a wildfire west of Athens on Sunday. The incident occurred amid a severe wildfire emergency in Greece, where over 12,000 hectares of land have been devastated this week.1241116
The collision took place approximately 65 km (42 miles) from Athens, as the helicopters were engaged in firefighting efforts on the Attica-Boeotia border. One helicopter crashed into a ravine, while the other made an emergency landing. The British pilot aboard the second helicopter survived with minor injuries, along with a Greek co-ordinator.357
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed his “deepest sorrow” over the accident, stating, “The loss of the Greek coordinator and the Danish pilot fills us all with grief.” He extended condolences to the families of the deceased. The collision highlights the dangers faced by firefighters during this wildfire season, which has seen extreme weather conditions and winds reaching 100 kilometers per hour.913
Greece's Civil Protection Minister Evangelos Tournas noted that gale-force winds have created “extremely difficult conditions,” hampering firefighting efforts. The wildfires have prompted mass evacuations in several areas, including Porto Germeno and other villages, with reports of homes damaged or destroyed. The situation is dire, as firefighters have been pushed to their limits, battling multiple fires daily across the country.6
In response to the collision, all Bell helicopters in Greece have been grounded as a precautionary measure. The incident underscores the ongoing wildfire crisis affecting not only Greece but also other parts of Europe, where wildfires have forced hundreds of thousands to evacuate their homes.
“The dead were a Danish pilot and a Greek fire service liaison officer, while the British pilot and a Greek coordinator on the second helicopter were hospitalized for 24-hour observation. All Bell helicopters across Greece have been grounded as more than 500 firefighters battle blazes across Porto Germeno, Psatha, Fokida, Megara and Kefalonia.”
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