Mid‑air collision leaves helicopter crews injured amid Greece wildfire crisis

Sun Sep 06 2026 12:21:45 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

A mid‑air crash involving two firefighting helicopters over Psatha, Greece, left four crew members injured as pilots fought fierce fires that have forced residents to evacuate.

Two firefighting helicopters collided over the Psatha region, 65 km west of Athens, during a high‑risk wild‑fire operation. The crash sent both aircraft plummeting into a ravine, leaving two crew members unconscious and two lightly injured. Greece’s wildfire season has seen frantic battle lines drawn across the countryside, with strong winds stalling suppression efforts and prompting mass evacuations. The incident underscores how extreme weather and escalating fuel loads are turning Greece into a flashland for deadly blazes.

Mid‑air collision leaves helicopter crews injured amid Greece wildfire crisis

Helicopters fighting Greece wildfires collide in mid-air

In a dramatic turn of events, two firefighting helicopters collided over the Psatha area – roughly 65 km (42 mi) west of Athens – as crews scrambled to extinguish a series of raging blazes that have forced thousands to evacuate.

The collision, captured on video, shows one craft striking the other’s propellers, sending both planes into a dramatic blaze and a ravine. Four crew members were aboard – two Greeks and two Romanians – and while two were rendered unconscious, the others suffered only light injuries. All four were transported to the 251st Air Force General Hospital.

Greece’s wildfire season has intensified in recently months, with strong winds hampering suppression efforts and threatening a swathe of land, from Porto Germeno to Kefalonia, where more than 500 firefighters have been battling the fires for the past 72 hours.

The incident occurred during a heavy‑fuel firefighting operation in the Psatha area, a region already gripped by high temperatures and low humidity that have turned Greece into a hotspot for rapid, uncontrolled fires.

While most wildfires spark from accidental or intentional human activity, climate change fuels more frequent and violent blazes by providing drier vegetation and higher temperatures. A mild, wet winter earlier this year allowed lush vegetation to grow, only to be scorched dry in successive heatwaves.

Across Europe, similar conditions have led to huge fires in France and Spain earlier this week, with fires near Madrid and Bordeaux now contained yet still burning. Roughly 300,000 people evacuated in those countries have begun returning home.

Map of Greece wildfires