The incident occurred during an effort to quench raging forest fires in Greece
© AFP / ERT / Michael Marino
A Canadair CL-215 amphibious aircraft crashed Tuesday on Evia, a large Greek island located immediately to the north of Athens. The country’s military has acknowledged the incident, revealing the aircraft belonged to the 355th Tactical Transport Squadron. All crew members were reported killed.
The tragedy was broadcast live on Greek national television. Footage from the scene shows the seaplane dropping water onto a patch of fire in the mountains, with its wing hitting the trees as it ascended. The plane apparently lost one of its floats in the collision, veering off course and crashing into the ground. Footage shows that the aircraft was destroyed on impact and exploded.
#BREAKING | An aerial firefighting aircraft has crashed whilst fighting wildfires on the island of Evia, Greece.Video footage just surfacing shows the moment the firebomber makes a retardant drop and crashes from a climbing turn to the right.Footage via EPT NewsRead more at… pic.twitter.com/fSg8tilOlV
— AviationSource (@AvSourceNews) July 25, 2023
The military said it dispatched two helicopters in a search and rescue effort to locate the crew of the crashed aircraft. The pilots were killed on the spot, the Greek armed forces said late in the day.
Greece has been enduring a massive wave of wildfires, which have raged across the country for about a week. Multiple locations have already been devastated by the blazes, which have prompted the nation’s biggest-ever evacuation of tourists from the Island of Rhodes. The country has effectively found itself “at war with fire,” according to Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
