Firefighting plane crashes in Greece
A three-day period of mourning has been declared for the Greek armed forces
A Hellenic Air Force Canadair CL-215 firefighting plane crashed on the island of Evia, east of Athens, on 25 July. The crash killed both pilots, aged 34 and 27.
The aircraft was reportedly working alongside at least three other aircraft, as well as 100 firefighters on the ground, at the time of the crash.
Video footage of the incident shows the aircraft banking heavily after releasing a water drop, before stalling and exploding upon impact with the ground.
The pilots have been named as 34-year-old Commander Christos Moulas and his Co-Pilot, 27-year-old Pericles Stefanidis.
A three-day mourning period has been declared for the Greek armed forces in response to the deaths of the two pilots.
Greece is currently experiencing intense wildfires as a result of an ongoing heatwave. The country has received extensive international support in tackling the crisis, with Croatia, Cyprus, Israel and Turkey among nations sending aircraft.
Oliver Cuenca
Oliver Cuenca is a Junior Editor at AirMed&Rescue. He was previously a News and Features Journalist for the rail magazine IRJ until 2021, and studied MA Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. His favourite helicopter is the AW169 – the workhorse of the UK air ambulance sector! He also led the creation of Waypoint: The AirMed&Rescue podcast, serving as its Production Editor and co-host.