Watch video | Firefighting Plane Crashes After Wing Hits on Tree in Greek Island, 2 people on board

On Tuesday, as officials battled flames across the nation amid a return of heat wave conditions, a firefighting plane crashed in southern Greece. Keep reading to know more about it in detail.

Firefighting plane crashes in Greek Island:

According to a fire service spokeswoman, a firefighting plane with two pilots on board crashed while tackling a forest fire on the Greek island of Evia.

The national broadcaster ERT aired footage of the firefighting plane pouring water on a fire before it crashed and caught fire near the coastal town of Karystos.

Spokesman Yannis Artopios told AFP, “A Greek Canadair plane, with at least two people on board, crashed near Platanisto,” a village in Evia.

The video, which was shown on a state television program, depicts a jet lingering over a jungle before abruptly vanishing into a canyon. A few seconds later, the aircraft slammed on the woodland floor, sparking a blaze.

The firefighting plane quickly dropped height as it banked in the air for another fly-over, making it impossible for it to pass over the hill. Instead, it nose-dived into the slope.

The air force reported that two helicopters flew to the location to conduct a search and rescue mission. The fate of the airmen was not further discussed.

Who are the Plane Crew members?

The plane was one of at least four that were involved in the Sunday morning fighting, along with about a hundred firemen.

According to the Greek Ministry of Defense, which was cited by ERT, the two pilots on board the amphibious Canadair CL-215 plane are members of the Greek Air Force. ERT presented the video of the aircraft as it crashed and vanished behind a cloud of flames and black smoke.

There is still a “red alert” in place for several areas of the nation, which means that there is a very high potential of dangerous forest fires that will be worsened by strong winds.

Nation is “at war” with the wildfires:

According to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the country’s wildfires are “at war” with the Mediterranean country.

The prime minister told parliament.,

“For the next few weeks, we must be on constant alert. We are at war,”

“We will rebuild what we lost. We will compensate those who were hurt. … The climate crisis is already here. It will manifest itself everywhere in the Mediterranean with greater disasters.”

Before the prognosis calls for an end to the country’s prolonged period of high temperatures, he warned that “another three difficult days ahead” lay ahead.

Seventh-day efforts by emergency services to put out wildfires on the island of Rhodes are underway, and today is likely to see the return of hundreds of tourists who had to leave the area the previous days.

The inferno that started a week ago grew and reached seaside resorts on the island’s southeast, forcing at least 19,000 and maybe as many as 20,000 people to evacuate their homes and hotels in Rhodes over the weekend.

Yesterday, more than 2,000 vacationers came home, and more flights for repatriation are anticipated today.

Tour operators also postponed scheduled trips.

People Statements:

In a report that was published on Tuesday, scientists concluded that human-caused climate change was ‘overwhelming’ responsible for the intense heatwaves that have recently swept through China, southern Europe, and North America.

According to the official television ERT, a prosecutor in Greece has started an investigation into the origins of the flames as well as the authorities’ readiness and response. 10% of the island’s land area, according to the report, was burned.

Lefteris Laoudikos, whose family runs a modest hotel in the Greek coastal resort town of Kiotari, one of the fire’s hotspots during the weekend, said its 200 guests, the majority of whom were from Germany, Britain, and Poland, were driven away in rental cars.

Using a nearby water tank, he claimed his father, cousin, and two other people were attempting to put out the fire.

He said, “On Saturday when I saw the wind and that there were no planes, I told everyone ‘we’re going to burn today, My father saved the hotel. I called him, and he didn’t want to leave. He told me ‘if I leave there will be no hotel’.’

Owner of three unaffected hotels in northern Rhodes, John Hatzis, said the island needed to reopen its doors to visitors.

He said, “After the superhuman efforts to contain the fire we need superhuman efforts to restart tourism now.”

One of Greece’s largest islands, Rhodes, is a popular summer vacation spot, drawing roughly 1.5 million foreign visitors during the season.

Heat Wave in Greece:

Following additional nocturnal evacuations due to flames that have been raging out of control for days, Greece saw its third consecutive heat wave on Tuesday, which raised temperatures back beyond 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in many regions of the nation.

On the island of Rhodes, a fire raged inland, burning hilly forest regions, including a section of a nature reserve, while the most recent evacuation orders were issued on the islands of Corfu and Evia.

While firefighting planes and helicopters continued water drops at dawn, desperate homeowners, many of whom were wearing wet towels over their necks to protect themselves from the sweltering heat, used shovels to fend off flames that were approaching their residences.

Vassilis Kikilias, the minister for climate crisis and civil protection, said,

“For the twelfth day, under extreme conditions of heat and strong winds, we are fighting nonstop on dozens of forest fire fronts. … The Greek Fire Service has battled more than 500 fires more than 50 a day.”

More than 20,000 people, mostly tourists, were reportedly evacuated from the island throughout the weekend as fires ravaged two coastal regions in Rhodes’ southeast.

One of them was Philadelphia 76ers basketball player Philip Petrusev of Serbia, who was on holiday on Rhodes with his girlfriend Tiana Sumakovic. Sumakovic detailed the chaotic circumstances as she and Petrusev fled the fire in a series of internet posts.

Sumakovic wrote, captioning videos of the fire,

 “The fire got got very close and we had to run,” 

“We were choking on the smoke and ran as far as we could … we eventually made it to safety.”

Greece has adopted a more proactive approach to evacuations following the 2018 fire that killed 104 people in the beach town of Mati, east of Athens. However, detractors claim it hasn’t enhanced its capacity to extinguish summertime fires, which are more fierce due to this year’s heatwave.

Help from the EU countries:

Turkey, Israel, Egypt, and other nations have also offered assistance, in addition to the 500 firefighters, 100 vehicles, and 7 planes deployed by the European Union and its 10 member states. Italy, which was suffering from its own fires and severe weather at home, was one of the contributing nations.

The international airport in Palermo, Sicily, was temporarily closed as wildfire flames drew near. However, a severe storm in northern Italy’s Lombardy area produced flooding and power outages and was held responsible for the death of a 16-year-old girl at a scout camp.

Authorities in Athens reinstated the ancient Acropolis’ afternoon closing hours as part of broader efforts to combat the extreme heat. EU officials point out that 2022 was the second-worst year for wildfire destruction on record after 2017, attributing the increase in frequency and intensity of wildfires to climate change.

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