The death of a British tourist killed by a helicopter blade could prompt a review of safety measures for what has become an increasingly popular form of travel around the Greek islands.
As investigations into the incident intensified, Greece’s chief air accident investigator told the Guardian his main concern was why the plane’s engines were still running when Jack Fenton and his friends disembarked on Monday.
“That was the question I asked the pilot and the ground engineers: Why were the engines still running?” said Ioannis Kondylis, who heads the country’s Air Accidents and Aviation Safety Investigation Board. “And they replied that they have two procedures, both approved by civil aviation.”
The first, he said, allowed passengers to disembark while the plane’s propellers were still in motion if the doors were opened from the outside and ground staff escorted them to the terminal. The second required shutting down the engines.
“I think as a precaution, for obvious safety reasons, we will recommend that the procedure be changed and the engines shut down,” he added, saying the state organization will send the results of its own investigation not only to the Greek government, but also to the UK Civil Aviation Authority.
Fenton, 22, died instantly when he was struck by the tail rotor of a Bell 407 helicopter which, at the end of a birthday party, had taken him and a group of friends from Mykonos. The privately chartered plane, which is part of a fleet operated by Megara-based Superior Air, had landed just minutes earlier at the Lolos heliport near Athens International Airport.
Spinning at up to 500 revolutions per second, the propeller would have been virtually invisible, experts say.
Greek police initially suggested the incident had happened when the Oxford Brookes student, defying regulations, had tried to take a selfie after disembarking safely. Local media reported that Fenton had run back to the tail of the plane with his mobile phone in hand as horrified onlookers shouted at him to stop.
But a school friend who was traveling with Fenton has denied that version of events, claiming they had not been escorted to the heliport terminal or given instructions when they got off the plane.
“All they did was open doors for us,” Jack Stanton-Gleaves told Mail Online. “We landed on our own and no one stopped Jack from getting in the back of the helicopter.”
The plane’s pilot and two ground engineers were briefly detained but released pending the results of an emergency investigation ordered by a Greek prosecutor. All could face manslaughter charges if they are alleged to have been negligent.
Kondylis admitted that ongoing investigations would rely on witness testimony and any other factual information because, unlike airplanes, helicopters did not have flight data or cockpit voice recorders.
“We can’t accept what they say,” he said, referring to Superior Air. “They have to show evidence. We’re waiting for evidence of their written procedures and their airway manual. I’ve learned there were five other passengers waiting in the [airstrip] term [to board helicopters] and they will have already seen what happened. Your tests will be very important. Maybe one of them made a video, true information that cannot be denied.”