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Helicopter crash kills 3 on Sifnos
The privately chartered aircraft caught fire after crashing near Sifnos’s landing area.
What happened
A private helicopter went down in Tholos on the Greek island of Sifnos near a landing site. It caught fire after impact, and firefighters recovered the bodies of everyone aboard. Police identified the passengers as British citizens. Greek authorities opened an investigation and gathered evidence and witness accounts.
Numbers
- 3 deathsPeople killed in the crash — Two passengers and a pilot
- 50 metresDistance from landing site — Witness account of crash location
- 18:15 local timePlanned landing time — The crash came shortly beforehand
Questions
- Who were the people killed?
- The victims were British newlyweds Alexander Cromie and Marie Ebert, and their Greek pilot, Giorgos Raikos, who had flown for Greece’s air force.
- Why were they flying to Sifnos?
- The couple had hired the private helicopter in Markopoulo, near Athens, to travel to Sifnos during their honeymoon in Greece.
- What did local witnesses describe?
- Residents heard an unusual engine noise and saw the helicopter spinning before it fell near the landing area and nearby homes.
- What was the flight schedule?
- The chartered helicopter was scheduled to depart Sifnos again later that evening, after its planned arrival on the island.
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The catch
The investigation has not determined why the helicopter crashed or whether a mechanical fault caused it.
Witness accounts remain part of the inquiry.