Military officials in Greece say four army officers have been killed and one injured in the crash of a border patrol helicopter in northern Greece.

The incident occurred Wednesday, north of the town of Elassona, some 450 kilometers (280 miles) northwest of Athens.

Army officials say the Huey UH-1H helicopter had been on a routine border patrol flight.

A Greek military official confirmed the deaths to The Associated Press, but insisted on anonymity pending an official announcement.

An extensive search of the rugged area was launched after the army lost contact with the helicopter, which had taken off from the central city of Larissa. </s> THESSALONIKI, Greece — Military officials in Greece say four army officers have been killed and one injured in the crash of a border patrol helicopter in northern Greece.

The incident occurred Wednesday, north of the town of Elassona, some 450 kilometers (280 miles) northwest of Athens.

Army officials say the Huey UH-1H helicopter had been on a routine border patrol flight.

A Greek military official confirmed the deaths to The Associated Press, but insisted on anonymity pending an official announcement.

An extensive search of the rugged area was launched after the army lost contact with the helicopter, which had taken off from the central city of Larissa.

The Greek Defence Ministry published the names of the four dead army officers who lost their lives when their helicopter crashed in the area of Sarantaporos, Elassona, on Wednesday morning and the name of the one officer who was injured, ANA says.

Major General Ioannis Tzanidakis has been promoted this year to deputy commander of the Greek First Army.

Colonel Thomas Adamos was 50 years old and security director in the First Army.

 Major Dimosthenis Goulas, the helicopter pilot, was 35 years old and had completed 1,620 hours of flight in this type of army helicopters.

Lieutenant Konstantinos Hatzis, the co-pilot, was 28 years old and had completed 405 flight hours in the same type of helicopters.

First Sergeant Vasiliki Plexida, who was injured in the crash, is being treated for limited injuries at a military hospital in Thessaloniki. She is 26 years old. </s> UPD: Four people have died and one is seriously injured in the UH-1H Greek army helicopter crash in the area of Sarantaporos-Elessona. Sargeant major Vasiliki Plejida was found seriously injured by rescue teams and is being transported to the 424 Military hospital of Thessaloniki for treatement. The 4 dead officers have been identified as: Major-General Ioannis Tzanidakis, Colonel Thomas Adamou, Major Dimosthenis Goulas and του Lieutenant Konstantinos Chatzis.

UPD: The UH-1H military helicopter has been found according to a statement released by the Army General Staff. “The UH-1H army helicopter (Huey) has been detected in the region of Sarantaporos-Elassona. Rescue means are on the scene. More developments soon”, the statement reads.

A Huey type military helicopter carrying 5 army personnel, has disappeared from the radar in the area of Sarantaporos, in northwestern Greece. The Greek Defence Ministry is on alert. The radar signal of the aircraft was lost initially in the Elassona area near Larissa. Authorities are trying to pinpoint its whereabouts with a Super Puma, an Agusta Bell of the Air Force and a CL-415 fire-fighter aircraft taking place in operations. The Army General Staff issued a statement reading: “We would like to inform that in the morning hours (7.30am) on April 19, 2017 there was a loss of signal and communication with helicopter UH-1H with 5 passengers which was executing the scheduled route from Larissa to Kozani. All necessary actions have been taken. Developments will become public”. </s> The sole survivor of a military helicopter crash that killed four army officers has said that the aircraft got tangled in power lines before going down.

 

 The UH-1H helicopter crashed on Wednesday near the village of Sarantaporo in Elassona, central Greece, during a routine patrol flight.

 

 During her testimony, excerpts of which were published Thursday in Ethnos daily, Sergeant Major Vassiliki Plexida, who emerged from the wreckage with relatively minor injuries, said that the so-called Huey chopper had been flying in reduced visibility due to fog.

 

 The officers killed in the crash were Major-General Yiannis Tzanidakis, Colonel Thomas Adamou, Major Dimosthenis Goulas and First Lieutenant Constantinos Hatzis.

 

 Defense Minister Panos Kammenos declared three days of national mourning in the wake of the accident. </s> Greece’s armed forces on Wednesday declared three days of mourning on the orders of Defense Minister Panos Kammenos over a helicopter crash earlier in the day that killed four army officers and injured one.

The Huey UH-1H went down north of the town of Elassona in northern Greece during what officials said was a routine border patrol flight.

The Greek president, Parliament’s spokesman and the country’s political leadership expressed their sadness and dismay over the incident.

“The nation and the people express their deepest anguish but also their sincere gratitude to the heroic officers who fell at the altar of defending our national security,” President Prokopis Pavlopoulos said in a statement.

 

 “Today’s loss of four officers of the Greek army in the line of duty is a great sadness to all of us,” Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said. “To their families I express heartfelt condolences, both personally and on behalf of the government and the Greek people.”

“On behalf of the Parliament of the Hellenic Republic and myself personally, I express my deep sadness and sincere condolences to the families of the officers... I also wish a speedy recovery to Sergeant Vassiliki Plexida,” parliamentary spokesman Nikos Voutsis said, referring to the injured officer.

New Democracy chief Kyriakos Mitsotakis also extended his condolences to the families of the victims and called for an immediate investigation into the causes of the crash. His sentiments were echoed by the leadership of the PASOK socialist party and of the Greek Communist Party. </s> The Greek military on Wednesday was investigating the cause of a helicopter crash that killed four army officers and injured a fifth, prompting Defense Minister Panos Kammenos to declare three days of national mourning.

The UH-1H helicopter crashed near the village of Sarantaporo in Elassona, central Greece, on Wednesday morning, during a routine patrol flight, according to defense sources.

Such routine flights are regularly carried out as part of exercises to monitor the country’s northern borders, the sources said.

The officers killed in the crash were Major-General Yiannis Tzanidakis, Colonel Thomas Adamou, Major Dimosthenis Goulas and First Lieutenant Constantinos Hatzis. Sergeant Major Vassiliki Plexida emerged from the wreckage with relatively minor injuries but remained in shock late on Wednesday.

It remained unclear what went wrong and caused the so-called Huey chopper to crash.

The UH-1H disappeared from the air force radar shortly before 8 a.m., prompting authorities to dispatch two F-16s, three rescue helicopters and a CL-415 fire service aircraft to search for it.

Police in the area of Sarantaporo reported a helicopter crash shortly after 10 a.m.

The fall knocked out the power supply in the area, raising questions about whether the helicopter hit electricity lines.

Military officials indicated that the UH-1H in question had not had any mechanical problems.

Authorities are expected to question Plexida when she has recovered from her injuries and shock.

Separately Kammenos lashed out at Ankara after six Turkish fighter jets violated Greek air space in the Aegean in wake of the four army deaths.

“The violations on a day of mourning in the Greek armed forces... show the quality of the Turks,” Kammenos wrote on his Twitter account. </s> A Greek air force plane has crashed into the eastern Aegean Sea after returning from a mission to intercept Turkish aircraft, killing its pilot.

Officials said the Mirage 2000-5 crashed Thursday north of the island of Skyros but gave information about the possible cause of the crash.

The Hellenic Air Force said in a statement that authorities lost contact with the jet some 9 miles northeast of the island at 12.15 p.m.

Patrolling has intensified in recent weeks amid a spike in tensions between Greece and Turkey and near-daily mock dogfights in disputed airspace.

Greek navy ships and army helicopters are searching for the missing pilot.

Greek soldiers fired warning shots at a Turkish helicopter after it approached a tiny Greek island of Ro in the eastern Aegean on Monday.

The Turkish coastguard helicopteer, flew along the outer limit of the air control identification zone between the two countries, both members of Nato.

Tensions between Greece and Turkey have been rising in recent weeks.

A Turkish court rejected requests for two Greek soldiers arrested in Turkey to be released from custody.

The two were arrested last week for allegedly entering a Turkish military zone and on suspicion of attempted espionage.

Greece said the two soldiers, a lieutenant and a sergeant, accidentally strayed into Turkey due to bad weather during a patrol of the Greek-Turkish border.

In February Greek coast guard vessel was rammed by a Turkish patrol boat off disputed islets in the east Aegean, and Turkish warships prevented an exploratory gas rig from drilling near Cyprus.

Turkey meanwhile, is angered by court decisions in Greece rejecting the extradition of eight Turkish servicemen wanted by Ankara for their alleged involvement in a failed military coup in 2016. </s> ATHENS – Reports have emerged that Greek troops fired warning tracer rounds at a Turkish helicopter that flew over over the islet of Ro, near the Dodecanese island of Kastellorizo, 1.25 miles off the Turkish coast in latest escalation of tension between the countries.

The helicopter was flying without its lights on at a low altitude at 11:30 p.m. on April 9, Kathimerini said, but the initial reports didn’t mention it was fired on

Defense Ministry sources told the paper that the rules of engagement were implemented and that Defense Minister Panos Kammenos was in constant contact with the head of the General Army Command (GES) and the Chief of Hellenic Armed Forces General Staff (GEETHA) when it happened and that Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was briefed.

Greek defense officials reportedly dismissed the incident as part of what it believes is designed to boost President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s popularity domestically and not to provoke a shooting conflict.

While Tsipras’ office said the incident was minor – even with shots fired – it added that a “night flight with the lights out is part of Turkey’s tactic of provocation from a safe distance which, however, carries the risk of an accident.”

There was no immediate comment from Erdogan although reports in the Turkish daily Hurriyet cited sources from the office of Prime Minister Binali Yildirim who denied it occurred.

In an earlier Tweet, the main opposition New Democracy’s shadow defense minister Vassilis Kikilias criticized the ministry for failing to provide details about the incident in which the shooting at the helicopter was not mentioned.

Meanwhile, Turkish fighter jets are continuing their regular violations of Greek airspace, following incursions on April 8 by two planes, breaking a customary Easter moratorium against such incidents that had been previously observed.

That happened when the Turkish F-16’s flew over Oinousses, a cluster of small islands in the northeastern Aegean, coming after a visit there by Kammenos to a military outpost.

Five new violations of Greek airspace and six infringements of the Athens Flight Information Region by Turkish aircraft were recorded by the Hellenic National Defence General Staff (HNDGS) on April 10, officials said.

Α Turkish CN-235 transport aircraft and a helicopter entered Greek airspace five times and two Turkish F-16 jets flew over the northeastern and southeastern Aegean before being chased away by Greek fighter jets who often engage their rivals in mock dogfights. </s> ATHENS, Greece: A Greek air force fighter jet has crashed into the Aegean Sea after returning from a patrol, killing the pilot, Defense Ministry officials said.

The officials said the single-seat Mirage 2000-5 crashed Thursday north of the island of Skyros, in the central Aegean. They gave no information about the possible cause of the crash.

Patrolling has intensified in recent weeks amid a spike in tensions between Greece and Turkey and near-daily interceptions and mock dogfights in disputed airspace around Greek islands facing Turkey’s coastline.

The pilot’s death was announced by Defense Minister Panos Kammenos after Greek navy ships and army helicopters had taken part in the search for the pilot.

“A Greek pilot joins the pantheon of heroes. He fell in the defense of our national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Kammenos said in a message posted on Twitter.—AP
Four Hellenic Army officers are killed and one is injured when their Bell UH-1 Iroquois border patrol helicopter crashes near Elassona in northern Greece.