A British couple on their honeymoon was killed when the helicopter they were traveling in crashed on the Greek island of Sifnos. The pilot also died in the incident, which occurred around 6 p.m. local time on Monday.
CCTV footage captured the Bell 206 helicopter spinning erratically before losing altitude and crashing near a helipad in the Tholos area. Local residents reported hearing an unusual noise from the aircraft shortly before the crash. The victims have been identified as Alexander Cromie and Marie Ebert, who were believed to be in their early 30s and resided in London. The pilot was identified as 55-year-old Giorgos Raikos, a retired Greek Air Force officer with extensive flying experience.
According to the Athens daily newspaper Ta Nea, the pilot had informed authorities that he was preparing to land, but this was followed by a mysterious radio silence. The National Organisation for the Investigation of Air and Railway Accidents and Transport Safety has launched an investigation into the crash, with the Greek Ministry of Transport confirming its involvement.
The couple had hired the private air taxi to travel from Athens to Sifnos to begin their honeymoon. The aircraft was engulfed in a fireball upon impact, with visible smoke rising from the wreckage. Emergency services rushed to the scene but were unable to save anyone.
The deputy mayor of Sifnos, Manolis Fountoulakis, described the scene as "a shapeless mass" and confirmed that "two charred bodies" were found inside, with another discovered a few yards away. Proto Thema reported that emergency services were first alerted to the incident at approximately 6:17 p.m. local time.
The island of Sifnos is located in the Cyclades island group and is a popular tourist destination. The incident occurred shortly before a scheduled 6:15 p.m. landing time, and the helicopter was expected to depart 25 minutes later.
This crash follows another helicopter incident in Greece earlier this month, where a Greek fire service liaison officer and a Danish pilot were killed while fighting wildfires. A British man, Andrew Hutchinson, miraculously survived that crash, along with another Greek co-ordinator, after their helicopter collided with another aircraft.