Firefighting helicopters collide near Athens, killing two crew members

Two firefighting helicopters collided in mid-air west of Athens, killing two crew members as one aircraft landed safely after battling a wind-driven blaze in Psatha. Greek fire services immediately mobilized search-and-rescue crews after the crash, which unfolded during a major firefighting operation in rugged terrain west of the capital.

The dead crew members were identified as one Greek national and one Danish national. The survivors were one Greek national and one British pilot. One of the aircraft was a Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane carrying two people, and it was able to land safely after the collision; the other helicopter crashed after the mid-air impact.

The fire in Psatha had been driven by strong winds, adding pressure to crews already stretched across Greece’s summer wildfire front. The collision underscored the risks faced by international firefighting teams brought together for urgent aerial operations, where pilots and crew from different countries are often working in fast-changing conditions over steep, smoke-filled terrain.

The crash also fit into a deadly pattern for Greece’s wildfire aviation response. In July 2022, two people died when a firefighting helicopter went down off the island of Samos. A year later, in July 2023, two Greek air force pilots were killed when a firefighting plane crashed while battling wildfires on Evia.

The latest fatality came as Greece faced a wider wildfire emergency and Europe battled severe fires at the same time, with large blazes also affecting France and Spain. That broader emergency has increased the demand for cross-border crews, aircraft and coordination, while also exposing the dangers that come with putting multinational teams into the air when conditions can change in seconds.