Two Firefighting Helicopters Collide in Greece, Killing Two, as Wildfires Rage Across the Country

Helicopter collision

On Sunday, two firefighting helicopters collided while battling a large wildfire near Psatha, northwest of Athens. The Hellenic Fire Service said the aircraft were carrying two Greek nationals and two foreign nationals. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis identified the dead as a Greek coordinator and a Danish pilot. The two crew members aboard the second helicopter survived and were taken to hospital.

The pilots... were transported unconscious to hospital, where their deaths were confirmed.

Rescuer Giorgos Ntoulas, who witnessed the crash from 400 metres away, described seeing the lower aircraft on fire falling vertically onto a road, while the second helicopter crashed in a wooded area. He said strong winds and difficult terrain made flying extremely challenging.

The manoeuvres are very delicate, the weight of the helicopters with water is excessive, and balances are lost very easily.

Retired Air Vice-Marshal Ioannis Anastasakis suggested the helicopters were in each other's blind spot, with visibility possibly reduced by ash on the cockpit windows.

Firefighting efforts and conditions

More than 200 fires have broken out across Greece in the past week, the fire service said. As of Sunday, over 27,000 acres had burned in the Attica and Boeotia regions, according to the National Observatory of Greece. Fire meteorologist Theodore Giannaros said the Porto Germeno fire alone had likely consumed more than 10,000 hectares, nearly double initial estimates, and was "very likely, if not almost certain" to be classified as a megafire.

It is very likely, if not almost certain, that the fire will be classified as a megafire.

Prime Minister Mitsotakis cited "extreme weather conditions" with wind speeds reaching 100 kilometres per hour. Civil Protection Minister Evangelos Tournas said firefighting aircraft were at times unable to take on water or make targeted drops because of severe turbulence. By Monday, winds had eased somewhat, allowing aircraft to resume operations, but the fire risk remained very high, according to the civil protection authority.

We are fighting the fires as best we can, in cooperation with the fire service, and going where they send us. What I see is that there are very few planes and helicopters. A huge area has burned.

Casualties and evacuations

The helicopter collision brought the death toll from Greece's wildfires to five. Three firefighters had died earlier last week: two were killed on 29 July while tackling a blaze near Rethymno on Crete, trapped in their vehicle in the Krya Vrisi area after losing visibility in dense smoke. One was a seasonal firefighter and the other a five-year veteran. The third fatality occurred in the Peloponnese region, though the fire service did not provide details.

Villages including Porto Germeno were evacuated after the fire broke out on Friday. Police went door-to-door to urge residents to leave. Local authorities said dozens of houses were damaged or destroyed, and media reports put the total number of destroyed homes in the hundreds. Authorities planned to begin assessing the damage quickly so that affected residents could receive financial support.

It doesn't matter that my house didn't burn. My neighbours' houses did. It's the same.

It is extremely sad. The wind is very strong and constantly changing direction. It's hard to cope. Even the trained and experienced firefighters cannot contain the fire - so how are we supposed to manage?

International context

Greece is among several European countries battling major summer wildfires fuelled by extreme heat and dry vegetation. In France, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said on Sunday that residents evacuated from the southwestern Gironde region were returning home, as the country's two largest fires were now under control. By the end of July, about 250,000 acres had burned in France this year. Spain has also seen large fires, with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez addressing the crisis last week.