Overview
- A privately chartered Bell 206 helicopter crashed and burst into flames near the Tholos helipad on Sifnos, killing all three people on board, after the aircraft appeared to spin out of control.
- Local and national emergency teams recovered the bodies and extinguished the blaze following the late‑evening accident on Monday.
- The victims were identified as British newlyweds Alexander Cromie and Marie Ebert and pilot Giorgos Raikos, and companies where the couple worked have issued tributes.
- CCTV footage and eyewitnesses reported the helicopter spinning and making a strange, loud noise before impact, and Greece’s civil aviation authority said an initial evaluation showed signs of a possible tail‑rotor malfunction and urged immediate inspections of Bell 206 tail‑rotor systems while the national investigation proceeds.
- The crash adds pressure on helicopter safety in Greece where private Bell 206 flights are common and follows an earlier fatal helicopter accident this month, raising the prospect of wider checks or temporary groundings as investigators examine wreckage, flight records and witness statements.