Two dead after Australian firefighting helicopters collide in Greece
Updated . First published
Two people have been killed in a crash between two Australian-owned firefighting helicopters while battling a wind-driven bushfire west of the Greek capital of Athens on Sunday.
Footage shows the two aircraft approaching each other, with one slightly above the other appearing to get closer to the second chopper.
Two people were found dead in the helicopter that crashed. 9News
The footage stops at the moment of impact, but one helicopter fell to the ground in the Porto Germeno area.
One Greek national and one Danish national were killed, while another Greek and UK national were both rescued alive.
The Bell helicopters are owned by Australian company McDermott Aviation which leases aircraft that are fitted for firefighting and emergency response in other countries.
“We are deeply saddened to confirm that the two crew members aboard one of the helicopters have lost their lives,” firm founder and president John McDermott, said in a statement on Monday.
“The two crew members from the second helicopter are in the care of medical professionals.
“Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families, friends and colleagues of those affected by this tragic incident.
“Both crews were undertaking the critical work of supporting firefighting operations to help protect communities.”
McDermott confirmed the company was working closely with investigators and will continue to assist authorities.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed “sorrow for the tragic accident” and extended condolences to the families of the firefighters killed in the crash.
“The loss of the Greek coordinator and the Danish pilot at the time they were attempting the major fire in Porto Gremeno fills us all with grief,” Mitsotakis said in a statement.
The two choppers were caught on camera shortly before the collision. 9News
Huge fires continue across Europe
The collision underscored the continuing danger at the most volatile front of Europe’s bushfire emergency.
The continent’s crisis split into three stark fronts: strong winds drove flames deeper into the Athens region and forced fresh evacuations, France guarded a still-burning scar four times the size of Paris, and Spain’s major fires stopped advancing.
The most immediate danger was in Greece. Flames spread through western Attica, the region around Athens, threatening communities and an industrial district outside Megara as violent gusts prevented firefighting aircraft from collecting water from the sea.
The danger carried grim resonance in a region where the 2018 Mati wildfire killed 104 people, Europe’s deadliest blaze this century.
A firefighter stands as flames rising during a wildfire near Porto Germeno. AP Photo/Michael Varaklas
Gale-force winds cripple aerial assault near Athens
Nearly 500 firefighters and 23 aircraft were deployed but gale-force winds drove flames through dry forest and crippled the response, preventing some aircraft from reaching the sea to collect water.
Authorities ordered the evacuation of Kandili, Agia Skepi and Toutouli as smoke rose over the mountains. Crews were particularly concerned about Porto Germeno, a seaside community on the Gulf of Corinth. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was briefed on the operation.
The fire began on Friday near Agios Vasileios before sweeping toward Porto Germeno and into the forested mountains west of Athens. Firefighters evacuated 254 people by sea on Friday and another on 12 Saturday — often the last escape route when fire and smoke cut the few roads from coastal communities.
Wildfire meteorologist Theodore Giannaros estimated the blaze had affected 40 to 50 square kilometres, though authorities had issued no official figure.
Elsewhere in Greece, flames threatened homes on Kefalonia, forcing evacuations from inland communities as aircraft made water drops over the Ionian island. Firefighters battled another blaze near Nea Tenedos in Halkidiki.
Earlier this week, two firefighters died fighting a fire on Crete, while a third was killed in the Peloponnese.
“A pristine forest, a paradise, was surrendered to the hands of the fire,” local farmer Minas Tzortzanis said on Saturday.
“There are no words to explain what has happened. Destruction. Total destruction.”
Firefighters operate during a wildfire near Porto Germeno. AP Photo/Michael Varaklas
Record fire damage underscores Europe’s growing wildfire threat
Farther west, containment brought no end to the emergency. France’s largest wildfire remained held within its perimeter after forcing 224,000 people to flee in what may have been the country’s largest civilian evacuation outside wartime.
Hot spots still burned within a 420-square-kilometre scar, thousands remained unable to return home, and nearly 3000 firefighters were deployed against the Gironde megafire and a second, still-uncontained blaze in Provence.
Together, fires in France and Spain have driven roughly a third of a million people from homes and vacation sites, emptied communities at the height of the European summer and stretched emergency services across simultaneous disasters.
The mass evacuations in France and Spain are the latest measure of a wildfire threat growing across Europe.
The continent entered 2026 after its worst fire year on record, with more than 10,000 square kilometres burned in 2025. Over the past four decades, wildfires have been linked to nearly 800 deaths across much of Europe, according to the European Environment Agency.
Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent. It has warmed more than twice the global average since the 1980s, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.
Human-caused climate change made the extreme fire-weather conditions behind this year’s French blazes at least twice as likely, scientists at World Weather Attribution found in a rapid analysis conducted while the fires were still burning.
–with Associated Press
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