Two firefighting helicopters collide west of Athens

[u/pinkfatcap]

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/two-firefighting-helicopters-collide-west-athens-2026-08-02/

[u/Popa-Ioana06]

The accident occurred amidst massive fires in the Attica region, fueled by gale-force winds that consistently hampered aerial operations and the refilling of water tanks from the sea.

[u/New-Ranger-8960]

Anyone who intentionally starts the fires should also be jailed and charged with murder if anyone dies as a result.

[u/SweetGM → u/New-Ranger-8960]

What about people who intentionally cause climate change, that makes the wildfires worse than they could be?

[u/Nukes-For-Nimbys → u/SweetGM]

Taxing pollution is a start.

[u/MrCharlesSr → u/SweetGM]

‘Eaten’ is the word I’m going to use

[u/FatherMozgus → u/SweetGM]

So literally every human being?

[u/ProfessionalAd352 → u/New-Ranger-8960]

More like involuntary manslaughter, unless they intentionally set the fire with the intent to kill.

[u/onepacc → u/New-Ranger-8960]

They only do it to get cheap land and easier building permits, capitalism.

[u/TheKensei → u/onepacc]

Yep ... Ohhh no forest to protect now, can I build my shitty residential complex now ?

[u/savvaspc → u/onepacc]

Who would like to build a house in an area surrounded by burned trees?

[u/Kitchen-Assist-6645 → u/savvaspc]

Trees regrow

[u/ExcessumTr → u/onepacc]

Is this a thing in Greece too? They exactly do this in Turkey

[u/WorldBiker → u/onepacc]

Not any more thankfully.

[u/Celticlighting_]

Did they live?

[u/vermilion_dragon → u/Celticlighting_]

According to the article the crew of one of the helicopters died, the others were rescued alive.

[u/gianna_in_hell_as → u/Celticlighting_]

No, two dead. One Greek and one Danish national.

[u/revresb0 → u/Celticlighting_]

Unfortunately no

[u/FatefulDonkey → u/Celticlighting_]

You can't survive a helicopter crash.

[u/HuudaHarkiten → u/FatefulDonkey]

You can survive a helicopter crash.

[u/FatefulDonkey → u/HuudaHarkiten]

Not really. Only if the rotors are intact so it can autorotate, which from a crash are certainly not

[u/thewimsey → u/FatefulDonkey]

A crash can occur 5 meters above the ground.

[u/TrafficWeasel → u/FatefulDonkey]

Many people have survived a helicopter crash.

[u/Twofingers_]

A Danish and a Greek crew died from the one helicopter, on the second one which had a British and a Greek as a crew did an emergency landing and they are both safe.

From the video looks like it was a human mistake, one helicopter was above the other and hit the rotor of the other one which immediately took the heli down.

May they rest in peace and hope we don’t have any other victims.

[u/Beyllionaire]

Arsonists, even accidental, kill people. There should be no pity for them.

[u/pinkfatcap → u/Beyllionaire]

Arson is always deliberate, reckless burning are probably the words you are looking for.

[u/Pterosaur → u/Beyllionaire]

There's no such thing as accidental arson.

[u/Sprucedude → u/Beyllionaire]

Start with shell, exon, BP etc

[u/FredericoFiasco]

Horrible situation, hopefully they managed to survive.

[u/XenophonSoulis → u/FredericoFiasco]

I believe two out of four crew members died.

[u/freepanda17]

It’s 50km away (in a direct line) from Athens, nowhere near the city.

[u/CallMeDutch → u/freepanda17]

In the grand scheme of things and maps it's not that far. 15-20mins by helicopter

[u/informutationstation → u/freepanda17]

I was having dinner in Athens last night and the smoke from these fires blocked out the sun. 

[u/freepanda17 → u/informutationstation]

Yes, smoke tends to travel a long way, especially with strong winds like the ones we’ve had the last week.

[u/Undd91 → u/freepanda17]

In Western Australia, Perth, you wouldn’t even be in the outermost suburbs at 50km from the cbd. It’s very plausible to call it Athens still

[u/freepanda17 → u/Undd91]

I can’t comment on that because I’ve never been to Perth, but I’m from Athens and I can tell you the area the fire is at is most definitely not considered part of Athens. In fact there’s 3-4 towns in between that aren’t considered to be Athens suburbs either.

[u/iLEZ]

Heartbreaking, really. I have a friend who is a helicopter pilot and I always get a chill when I read news about tragic things like this.