Overview
- A privately chartered Bell 206 crashed near the Tholos helipad on Sifnos on Monday, killing two British newlyweds, Alexander Cromie and Marie Ebert, and the Greek pilot, Giorgos Raikos.
- Local CCTV and witness accounts show the helicopter spinning on its axis before impact and a post‑crash fire that was swiftly put out by island fire crews and a rescue team from Syros.
- Greece’s civil aviation authority said a preliminary review found signs consistent with a tail‑rotor malfunction and urged all operators of Bell 206s to inspect tail rotors and drive systems before flying.
- The National Organisation for the Investigation of Air and Railway Accidents is leading a formal technical probe that will examine flight recordings, wreckage, CCTV and witness statements while the UK Foreign Office provides consular support to the families.
- The crash adds to scrutiny of helicopter safety in Greece after a separate deadly mid‑air collision earlier in August, and it raises questions about the risks of growing private air‑taxi traffic to remote islands.