Two Killed in Private Airplane Crash Off the Coast of Samos

Two people died on Monday after a small airplane crashed off the coast of the island of Samos. The light private plane was making a trip from Israel to the Greek island with only two passengers. The plane crashed as it was about to arrive at Samos’ airport.

“We recovered two bodies from the spot,” authorities told Reuters.

“The aircraft crashed about a mile south from the airport,” added another official.

The plane was a single-engine Cessna 172. ERT reported that the two bodies were an adult man and woman. An explosion was heard as the plane drew closer to Samos.

Samos is a Greek island off the coast of Asia Minor

Samos, a legendary Greek island steeped in beauty, is found in the eastern Aegean Sea off the coast of Asia Minor (Asian Turkey).

Its proximity to the coast of Asia Minor has made Samos a link between the two cultures, historically helping to forge the cooperation and friendship of the two cultures living across the water from each other.

In Vathy, the capital of the island, is the Archaeological Museum of Samos, with its colossal statue of a Kouros, standing almost 5.5 meters tall, dating back to the sixth century BC. The exhibits are for the most part, the finds that were unearthed at the Ireon archaeological site on the island.

It is the island where the astronomer Aristarchus, who introduced heliocentrism, the astronomical model in which the planets revolve around the sun, formed his celestial theories.

Samos was also home to other brilliant men, including Pythagoras, the philosopher and the father of mathematics, and the philosopher Epicurus. The land was also home to the Greek historian Herodotus, who is often referred to as the “Father of History,” and Aesop, the Greek storyteller and fabulist.

It was also the mythical birthplace of Hera, the goddess of women, family, marriage, and childbirth. Hera was the wife as well as the sister of Zeus, serving as a defender of the idea of marriage and monogamy. She spent most of her time trying to prevent Zeus from being unfaithful and was said to torture the children he had from those affairs, including Hercules.

The island came into frequent contact with important Mediterranean cultures throughout its history, since it was an important center of trade in the Aegean and a major naval force in ancient times.

Apart from its fascinating legends, the island has beautiful natural landscapes filled with color. The natural environment of the island makes one think of the Greek mainland in miniature, with its caves, canyons, and mountains (such as Mt. Kerkis and Mt. Ambelos) which receive large amounts of precipitation and have alpine winter temperatures.