Μake us preferred on Google The Danish pilot killed in Sunday’s mid-air collision between two firefighting helicopters while battling the major wildfire in western Attica prefecture has been identified as 46-year-old Rune Kindahl, an experienced helicopter pilot whose family said he had dedicated the latest stage of his career to aerial firefighting.
Kindahl’s identity was confirmed by his brother, Tue Kindahl, in an interview with Danish broadcaster TV 2. International media identify him as a native of Godvad, near Silkeborg in central Denmark, who had been living in Canada in recent years.
“It is an enormous loss and indescribably tragic that he died in this way,” his brother said. “I want people to know that he was carrying out important work by helping fight the wildfires in Greece.”
According to his family, Kindahl had logged more than 9,000 flight hours during a professional career spanning more than 20 years. After years flying missions for Canada’s logging industry, he recently transitioned to aerial firefighting. Only days before the accident, he had taken delivery of the Bell helicopter he was flying and had sent photographs of the aircraft to his brother, expressing excitement that it was more powerful than those he had previously operated.
He had been due to travel to Denmark on Tuesday to reunite with his family.
His brother said he was formally notified of the pilot’s death by the head of the company operating the helicopters but had already feared the worst after seeing television images of the crash.
“I knew before I received the phone call. As soon as my wife and I saw the images of the crash, I realized it was him,” he said.
The collision occurred shortly after midday Sunday near the coastal settlement of Psatha as two Bell firefighting helicopters were conducting water-dropping operations over the fast-moving wildfire burning across western Attica. Kindahl and a Greek aerial operations coordinator were killed, while two crew members aboard the second helicopter survived.
In an emotional social media post, the father of the Greek coordinator wrote: “Today was the first time the Danish pilot flew with my son. We lost them both.”
Greek authorities have launched a full investigation into the accident. The committee responsible for investigating aviation accidents is examining video footage, flight data and other evidence to determine what caused the two helicopters to collide.
According to reporting over the past 72 hours, the helicopter collision occurred during one of the largest wildfire suppression operations mounted this summer, as hundreds of firefighters, aircraft and volunteers battled the blaze stretching across western Attica and neighboring Boeotia. The deaths of the two crew members have cast a shadow over an operation that has otherwise been marked by the successful protection of populated areas despite extreme fire conditions.
