A British couple’s honeymoon ended in tragedy when the helicopter carrying them to a Greek island spiraled from the sky and exploded just minutes before they were due to land, killing the newlyweds and their experienced pilot.
Alexander “Alex” Cromie and his wife, Marie Ebert, were heading to Sifnos on Monday, Aug. 17, during what should have been one of the happiest trips of their lives.
Flying them from Markopoulo, near Athens, was 55-year-old Giorgos Raikos, a former air force officer described by sources as “extremely experienced” behind the controls.
The journey was almost over.
According to People, their chopper was expected to touch down at around 6:15 p.m. before departing again just 25 minutes later, but as the aircraft approached the island, the routine landing suddenly unraveled.
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‘Nothing was left’
A little after 6 p.m., Raikos contacted air traffic control to say he was preparing to land, according to News 24/7.
Then communication stopped.
Footage circulating online captures what happened next, showing the helicopter spinning through the air as it rapidly loses altitude. Still rotating as it drops toward the island, the aircraft slams into a field and erupts into a fireball, scattering wreckage across the area as thick smoke billows through the air.
When emergency crews reached the scene, the destruction was devastating. Manolis Foundoulakis, deputy mayor of Sifnos, told News 24/7 that all three people aboard were killed instantly and that practically “nothing was left” of the helicopter.
Two of the victims were reportedly found among the wreckage, while the third was located a short distance away.
The helicopter’s violent descent, however, may not have come without warning.
