The collision of two firefighting helicopters working on a wildfire west of Athens, Greece, has had tragic results with the death of two crew members, a Danish pilot and a Greek fire service liaison officer.

Australian operator McDermott Aviation has confirmed that two of its helicopters were involved in the mid-air collision near Psatha, Greece, on 2 August 2026 (local time).

The company’s founder and president John McDermott released a statement: “We are deeply saddened to confirm that the two crew members aboard one of the helicopters have lost their lives. The two crew members from the second helicopter are in the care of medical professionals.

Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with the families, friends and colleagues of those affected by this tragic incident. Both crews were undertaking the critical work of supporting firefighting operations to help protect communities.

McDermott Aviation is working closely with the relevant authorities and will continue to assist as they undertake their investigation into the incident.”

McDermotts is a long-time operator in Greece, having deployed many of its Bell 214ST and other helicopters over the last seven years, as well as deploying regularly to the US, Canada, other parts of Europe and across Australia.

Unverified video posted online and reported in some media appeared to show two helicopters cross paths at low altitude as they moved to drop water.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis expressed “sorrow for the tragic accident” and extended condolences to the families of the firefighters killed in the crash.

“The loss of the Greek coordinator and the Danish pilot at the time they were attempting the major fire in Porto Germano fills us all with grief,” Mitsotakis said in a statement.

Earlier this week, two firefighters died fighting a fire on Crete, while a third was killed on the Peloponnese.

The McDermott fleet is not the only Australia presence – or indeed, non-European presence – in the air in Europe. South Australia’s Aerotech Aviation has four Air Tractor AT-802 aircraft in France with six crew.

Meanwhile, a New South Wales Rural Fire Service CH-47D Chinook helicopter and a Bell 412 support aircraft deployed this weekend to fight fires in France. This will mark the Service’s first-ever European deployment and is in addition to its crews and its 737 Large Air Tanker already deployed to North America.

In France, the two aircraft will be accompanied by 24 aerial and ground crew.

The Chinook, equipped with an 11,300-litre belly tank will work with the Bell 412, and is also capable of conducting waterbombing missions at night. Should it be tasked to do so in France, it will be the first time night-time waterbombing has been undertaken in the country.

“This is the first time we have deployed to Europe,” said Ben Millington, Deputy Commissioner at the NSWRFS.

“We have firefighters and incident management teams currently operating and supporting agencies in Canada and the United States with this pending deployment to France that will see our crew across three countries.”