Today marks twenty-one years since the fatal crash of the “Chinook” helicopter off Mount Athos, which claimed seventeen lives, including Patriarch Petros VII of Alexandria.
On September 11, 2004, the military helicopter carrying Patriarch Petros and his entourage to Mount Athos plunged into the sea shortly before landing, killing everyone on board. Seventeen people perished in total, including Primate Petros. Greece was left in shock.
The Army Aviation’s 4th Helicopter Squadron helicopter crashed into the sea about three to four nautical miles southeast of Sithonia. The helicopter took off at 9:35 a.m. from the Saketa military base in Kareas and was scheduled to land on Mount Athos at 11:05 a.m. The last communication with the control tower at Chortiatis was recorded at 10:54; the aircraft disappeared from radar around 11:00. Rescue teams dispatched to the area finally located the wreckage at about four o’clock in the afternoon.
The victims included Patriarch Petros VII of Alexandria; Metropolitan Irenaios of Pilousion; Metropolitan Chrysostomos of Carthage; Bishop Nektarios of Madagascar; Archimandrite Arsenios, abbot of Machairas Monastery; Archimandrite Kallistratos Oikonomou; and Deacon Nektarios Kontogiorgos. Also on board were Georgios Mavros, the Patriarch’s legal advisor; Patroklos Papastefanou, the Patriarch’s technical advisor; Georgios Xenoudakis, the Patriarch’s press advisor and a journalist with Ta Nea; Georgios Papapetrou, the Patriarch’s brother; and Spyridon Koursaris, a police officer and the Patriarch’s bodyguard. The deceased crew members were Lieutenant Colonel Dimitrios Papaspyrrou, commander of the 4th Squadron; Major Panagiotis Papanastasiou of the Army Aviation; Warrant Officer Stylianos Raptis and Master Sergeant Panteleimon Chatzivaggalis, both of the Technical Corps; and Staff Sergeant Panagiotis Golegos, also of the Technical Corps.
