Sifnos: experts at the site of the crash

Five experts began on-site examinations on the morning of Wednesday 19 August at the spot where a Bell 206 helicopter crashed near the Sifnos helipad, in the area of Exambela. They are three officers of the Hellenic Police Directorate for Combating Organised Crime and two representatives of the National Organisation for the Investigation of Air and Rail Accidents. Three people lost their lives in the crash: the 55-year-old Greek pilot and a British couple aged 31 and 30 who were on the island for their honeymoon. The site remains cordoned off and is guarded by police forces brought over from Naxos, while a team from the Syros Forensic Investigation Department is also taking part in the inquiry. The incident had become known on Monday, when three people lost their lives.

The three bodies are being taken today, on a prosecutor’s order and under the responsibility of the Fire Service, to the Piraeus Forensic Service for post-mortem examination. Relatives of the two Britons are already in Athens for the identification procedure, and the British embassy has been informed. The forensic examination is the stage that will show whether the pilot’s death was caused solely by the crash or whether some other event preceded it, an element that weighs on the investigation of the causes. So far statements have been given by the manager of the Sifnos helipad, who described seeing the helicopter lose height and spin before it fell, as well as by employees of the air taxi company that owned the aircraft. Additional material has been requested from the National Meteorological Service, the Fire Service and the Labour Inspectorate.

According to the reports, the authorities are examining two main scenarios: a mechanical fault in the helicopter’s tail rotor or a medical event affecting the pilot during the flight. In that context, the Civil Aviation Authority issued an urgent directive providing for checks on the tail rotor of all Bell 206 helicopters before every flight. That development has direct significance for the small islands of the Cyclades, where air taxi helicopters cover journeys not served by scheduled flights and are often also used for emergency transfers. Sifnos has no airport and is connected by ferry with Piraeus and the neighbouring islands, while the helipad serves mainly private flights and medical transfers.

The inquiry on the island is expected to last at least three more days. Once the on-site examinations are complete, the wreckage will be moved to a secure location for detailed examination, so that the condition of the critical mechanical parts can be established. A case file has already been opened by the port and police authorities, which will be supplemented by the conclusions of the forensic examination and the technical investigation. The National Organisation for the Investigation of Air and Rail Accidents is conducting a separate, administrative inquiry, which does not attribute responsibility but aims to identify the causes and to formulate safety recommendations. No timetable has been announced for the completion of the findings, nor has it been made known whether criminal proceedings will be brought.