Newlywed Couple Dies in Honeymoon Helicopter Crash Minutes Before They Were Due to Land
Newlywed Couple Dies in Honeymoon Helicopter Crash Minutes Before They Were Due to Land
Adam EnglandTue, August 18, 2026 at 10:15 AM UTC
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Smoke rises following the helicopter crash in Sifnos, Greece, on Aug. 17, 2026Credit: Giuseppe/via REUTERS -
A newly married couple on their honeymoon and their pilot died in a helicopter crash in Greece on Monday, Aug. 17
The helicopter crashed and ignited a fireball in the Tholos area of Sifnos, a Greek island, minutes before it was due to land at a heliport
The deceased have been named as Alexander Cromie and Marie Ebert, both British nationals, and army veteran Giorgos Raikos, 55, according to reports
A newly married couple and their pilot have died in a helicopter crash in Greece.
Alexander Cromie and Marie Ebert, from England, were on their honeymoon on the island of Sifnos when their private helicopter crashed into a field in the Tholos area, U.K, newspaper The Times reported. The tragedy occurred on Monday, Aug. 17, according to Reuters.
When the helicopter crashed — minutes before it was due to land at a heliport — it ignited a fireball that engulfed the aircraft and scattered debris, per The Times.
At the time of the incident, the couple had been traveling to Sifnos, a popular vacation island, from the village of Markopoulo, which is around 13 miles southeast of the Greek capital of Athens, Greek outlet Kathimerini reported, according to the BBC.
The pilot has been named as Giorgos Raikos, per The Times. According to Greek newspaper Ta Nea, the 55-year-old was a Hellenic Army veteran, who became a professional helicopter pilot after retiring from the military.
Smoke rises following the helicopter crash in Sifnos, Greece, on Aug. 17, 2026Credit: Giuseppe/via REUTERS
Firefighters and a doctor arrived at the scene within minutes, while police cordoned off the area, the outlet reported. Additional support was sent from the nearby island of Syros, per The Times.
Video footage of the helicopter circulating online showed it rotating and dropping in height, before falling to the ground.
“The crash came minutes before the scheduled 6:15 p.m. landing,” a police official in Athens told The Times. “The helicopter was scheduled to leave 25 minutes later.”
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Sifnos, Greece (stock photo)Credit: Getty
Aviation safety officials have opened an investigation into the crash and are examining flight records, weather conditions and the possibility of mechanical failure, according to the outlet.
The weather at the time of the incident was reported to be normal, with no strong winds, per Ta Nea. The pilot informed air traffic control that he was preparing to land shortly before the crash, and a period of radio silence reportedly followed.
Sifnos, Greece (stock photo)Credit: Getty
Manolis Foundoulakis, the deputy mayor of Sifnos, said locals living meters away from the crash site reported hearing a “bizarre engine noise coming from the aircraft” before it was about to land, The Times reported.
He told local news site NewsIt, per the BBC, that two of the victims were found in the helicopter’s ruins, while another was located a short distance away.
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The U.K. Foreign Office told The Times that it was cooperating with authorities in Greece and was ready to provide support to Cromie and Ebert’s families.
The Hellenic Police, the Hellenic Civil Aviation Authority, the Hellenic Air and Rail Safety Investigation Authority and the Foreign Office didn’t immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information.
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Source: “AOL Breaking”
