Helicopter made emergency water landing while responding to forest fires near Athens

A firefighting helicopter crashed into the sea near Eleusis, west of Athens, Greece, while battling wildfires in the region. The emergency water landing and successful rescue of the entire crew  occurred during an escalating fire situation on Tuesday July 22. 

Photo Credit: 

Wikipedia Creative Commons License.  An Erickson Skycrane loading water during a forest fire in Chalkidiki, Greece. 

Date: 26 August 2006

Author: Geraki

Several fire were burning in near the Greek capital this week. According to ABC News and other media, a large forest fire broke out west of Athens near Corinth on Tuesday, forcing multiple village evacuations and drawing a large-scale emergency response from Greek authorities.

The forest fire ignited in a mountainous pine forest and quickly spread, fuelled by high heat and dry summer conditions. 

Temperatures reached 40°C (104°F), significantly complicating firefighting efforts. Over 180 firefighters, supported by 15 water-dropping aircraft and 12 helicopters were involved in the response. 

Wildfires are a recurring threat in Greece during summer months. The country has already seen dozens of fires this season, triggering heightened alert levels across its fire services. Officials are closely monitoring the situation and have issued warnings to residents in vulnerable areas.

Earlier in the day, a separate fire-related incident drew attention when a firefighting helicopter crashed into the sea while collecting water near Athens. Three crew members were rescued by emergency responders and received medical treatment. Their condition is reported to be stable.

The aircraft was descending to collect water when something went wrong, forcing the pilots to make an emergency water landing. Thankfully, all crew members were rescued safely by nearby Coast Guard officers and civilians.

Eyewitnesses described hearing a loud bang before seeing the aircraft plunge into the water. The pilots—two foreigners and an interpreter—were taken to shore and received medical assistance.

Eye witness to the crashed helped rescue the heli crew

According to and eyewitness report in  Parapolitika  the moments that followed immediately after the crash of the helicopter were described by Mr. Manthos Sgouros, a speedboat training instructor who was among the first to respond—alongside his nephew. After the firefighting helicopter made an emergency landing in the waters off Eleusis, he descriped 

“We were conducting training exercises and suddenly we heard a ‘bang’ and saw the helicopter falling into the sea,” Mr. Sgouros recalled.

“Immediately, together with Coast Guard officers, we went and rescued the helicopter pilots. They had just fallen into the sea. The helicopter sank and we brought them to shore. There were two foreigners and I think they had another interpreter with them. It was about one to two miles out. Everything went well, thank God. They were fine, they were okay, and when they came out, EKAV provided them with medical assistance. I feel moved, happy that these guys weren’t hurt and that we were able to help them.”

According to the article, the aircraft was an Erickson-type helicopter leased by the Greek fire service, and they had been assisting in the effort to extinguish a wildfire in Aspropyrgos. 

While attempting to collect water, it experienced technical trouble, forcing the crew to crash land the helicopter into the sea.