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Two Firefighting Crew Killed in Helicopter Collision Near Psatha, Greece

Aerotime reported that two Bell helicopters operated by McDermott Aviation collided on August 3, 2026, killing a Danish pilot and a Greek fire service liaison officer.

By AI ReporterFirst reported Aug 3, 2026, 6:15 a.m. ETUpdated Aug 7, 2026, 11:35 a.m. ET

More on this incident

crew members were killed when firefighting helicopters collided near , , on August 3, 2026, Aerotime reported. The outlet reported fatalities, both crew, identified as a Danish pilot and a Greek fire service liaison officer. According to Aerotime, footage showed one helicopter's rotor striking the underside of the other, which crashed and caught fire; the second aircraft released its water load and made an emergency landing. The helicopters were types operated by , an Australian company based on the Sunshine Coast, according to Aerotime, which also reported that all helicopters operating in were grounded as a precaution. Neither aircraft has been identified by an authority. An early entry in a volunteer-maintained safety database records the registration ; that identification comes from contributed early reporting and no official record confirms it. Registry records list 16 aircraft under , of which nine match the reported type, including 214 B-1, TH-1F Iroquois and UH-1B Iroquois airframes registered in Australia and 214 B-1 and 214 B airframes registered in Papua New Guinea. Those records describe the operator's fleet and are not an indication of which aircraft were involved. For the unconfirmed registration , aircraft registry records list a 214ST, serial number 28105, built in 1982 and 44 years old, described in the registry as a single-engine turboprop helicopter and registered in the United States. The registry lists the registered owner as Bank Of Utah Trustee; the owner of record is not necessarily the operator, the pilot, or otherwise connected to the flight. Bank of Utah, headquartered in Ogden, Utah, states on its own websites that it acts as owner trustee for aircraft, holds title for beneficiaries, and does not operate or retain operational control of the aircraft it holds in trust. Its chief executive officer is Benjamin F. Browning and its president is Branden P. Hansen, per the bank's news releases; no investigative finding connects them or the bank to this accident. As a matter of public record, NTSB files list other cases involving the same owner of record: a Boeing 737, N583AS, at Kodiak, Alaska on January 15, 2026; a Bombardier CL-600-2D24, N480PX, at New York on October , 2025; an Airbus A320-214, N837VA, at Villahermosa, Mexico on August 16, 2025; an Air Tractor AT-502B, N502WF, at Goodland, Kansas on August 10, 2025; and an Airbus Canada BD-500-1A11, N247BZ, at North Charleston, South Carolina on July 19, 2025. Separately, the NTSB database, which begins in 2008, contains one other case involving the 214ST type, of which none involved a fatality. Neither record says anything about the cause of this accident. Greek authorities are investigating. The cause has not been determined.

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Reference data

From aircraft and geographic registries, not from the news sources. Registry records can be out of date, and describe the aircraft and the place only — they say nothing about what happened.

Registration
N511EV
Type
Bell 214ST — single-engine turboprop helicopter
Engines
AMA/EXPR UNKNOWN ENG
Built
1982-01-01 (44 years old)
Registered owner
Bank Of Utah TrusteeThe owner of record is not necessarily the operator, the pilot, or otherwise connected to the flight.
Terrain elevation
13 ft
Nearest aerodrome
7.6 miles NW of Dounis Airfield (GR-0016)

Sources

Revision history

  1. Version 87 Aug 2026, 15:35current

    Minor wording clarifications to the type-record sentence and the derived-registration caveat; no new facts.

  2. Version 75 Aug 2026, 20:10

    Added the unconfirmed volunteer-database registration N511EV with its registry details, the registered owner of record and trustee background, the owner's other NTSB cases and the Bell 214ST type record; dropped the geographic paragraph.

  3. Version 64 Aug 2026, 23:23

    Corrected the operator fleet detail to the registry models and countries of registration now on record (Australia and Papua New Guinea), removing the previously listed 214 ST, 206L and US registrations.

  4. Version 54 Aug 2026, 20:33

    Removed the developing-situation caveat now that the event record is published; no factual changes.

  5. Version 44 Aug 2026, 20:32

    Replaced the claim that the aircraft identities were unknowable with registry-record detail on McDermott Aviation's fleet, noting it is not an identification of the aircraft involved.

  6. Version 34 Aug 2026, 20:09current

    Added a note that neither helicopter's registration is in the available material and explained why no tail number can be matched.

  7. Version 27 Aug 2026, 15:35current

    Restructured to lead with the collision, casualties and open investigation rather than the unconfirmed registration; added location reference data and clearer labelling of the tail number as unconfirmed.

  8. Version 24 Aug 2026, 20:04

    Corrected the geographic description of the site relative to nearby aerodromes and added the Perneri Airfield distance from reference data.

  9. Version 14 Aug 2026, 17:09

    First published.

  10. Version 15 Aug 2026, 20:13

    First published.

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