A helicopter crashed and went up in flames on the Greek island of Sifnos on Monday evening, killing all three people aboard, fire officials said. The victims include the 55-year-old pilot, who was of Greek origin, and a newlywed British couple who had chartered the helicopter for their honeymoon on Sifnos.
The aircraft went down around 6 p.m. local time near a cluster of homes close to the island’s heliport in the Tholos district.
Greece’s Fire Service said its operations center received the first report of the crash at 6:17 p.m., and crews were dispatched quickly given how close the wreckage came to residential buildings. Officials identified the victims as the pilot and two passengers who had been aboard the helicopter. Their bodies were severely burned in the fire that followed the crash.
The flight had departed from the wider Markopoulo area in eastern Attica. According to information available so far, the pilot had notified the relevant authorities that he was preparing to land, but radio contact then went silent for several seconds.
Firefighters and RAFNAR speedboat rush to crash site
Two firefighters and a single vehicle were dispatched to the crash site. A specialized rescue team also set out separately from the nearby island of Syros aboard a Fire Service speedboat, RAFNAR, to assist with the operation.
Πτώση ιδιωτικού ελικοπτέρου και εκδήλωση #πυρκαγιάς σε αυτό, στην περιοχή Θόλος στη νήσο Σίφνο. Επιχειρούν 2 #πυροσβέστες με 1 όχημα, ενώ μεταβαίνει ομάδα διάσωσης απο Σύρο με ταχύπλοο σκάφος RAFNAR του Πυροσβεστικού Σώματος.
— Πυροσβεστικό Σώμα (@pyrosvestiki) August 17, 2026
People who witnessed the crash told local media that the helicopter appeared to develop a mechanical problem while still airborne, making an unusual noise moments before it went down. Fire officials said that the cause of the crash had not yet been determined and that additional details on the victims and the circumstances of the accident were expected in the coming days.
Sifnos helicopter crash is Greece’s second deadly aviation accident in August
The Sifnos helicopter crash was the second deadly aviation accident to strike Greece this month. On August 2, two firefighting helicopters collided in midair near Psatha, west of Athens, while their crews were working a major forest fire.
That collision killed a Greek flight coordinator and a Danish pilot. The two crew members aboard the other helicopter survived and were taken to a hospital. Investigators have not linked the two incidents and are still trying to determine what caused the helicopters to collide.
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