Two Helicopters Collide Near Athens as Greek Wildfires Rage
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- Two firefighting helicopters collided west of Athens while battling the wildfire, killing the two-person crew of one aircraft — identified by PM Mitsotakis as a Dane and a Greek — while the second helicopter's crew was rescued.
- Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis warned of "extremely difficult" days ahead as gale-force winds exceeding 78mph (125km/h) have pushed flames toward settlements on Athens' western fringes, noting that "even the dozens of aircraft we have at our disposal cannot operate safely."
- More than 100 homes were destroyed overnight at the coastal village of Porto Germeno, roughly 45 miles northwest of Athens, with over 500 firefighters and forest commandos dispatched by Sunday to keep the flames at bay.
- The helicopters had been leased from Australia's McDermott Aviation, part of a 15-aircraft fleet that has supported Greek firefighting operations for seven years.
- Three Greek firefighters died last week from injuries sustained while fighting blazes, and civil protection minister Evangelos Tournas — a retired air force general — said the fire department had been "pushed to its limits" by extreme turbulence preventing water drops.
- Footage showed one helicopter losing control in the gale-force winds, according to fire department spokesperson Vassilis Vathrakogiannis, who said the unconscious pilots were taken to hospital where their deaths were confirmed.
- Greece's blazes follow a "relatively calm" eastern Mediterranean summer, with fires now devastating land from Crete to the southern Peloponnese, Cephalonia, and islands across the Aegean.
Why it matters: The helicopter collision — killing one two-person crew in 78mph winds — is a stark indicator of how extreme conditions have grounded firefighting assets and endangered crews, compounding a toll that already includes three Greek firefighter deaths last week and over 100 homes destroyed at Porto Germeno in a single night.
