Alexander Cromie, 31, and Marie Ebert, 30, were travelling to the Aegean island on Monday evening when the privately chartered Bell 206 helicopter crashed and burst into flames in the Tholos area.
The chopper was scheduled to land at 6:15 p.m. CCTV footage showed the aircraft spinning out of control before plummeting to the ground, igniting a massive fireball.
The pilot has been identified as Giorgos Raikos, 53, a former air force officer described as “extremely experienced” by officials.
The newly-married couple was working in London. Mr. Cromie was a vice president of private wealth solutions at Blackstone – an asset management firm – and had been working there for four years. Blackstone has been quoted as saying that, “Alex was greatly loved by all who met and worked with him at Blackstone, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”
Foreign Office, United Kingdom, has been confirmed to be offering consular assistance to the affected.
Currently, investigations are underway to analyse whether a mechanical fault caused the tragedy. Local residents reported hearing a “strange noise” from the helicopter before it crashed.
Deputy Mayor of Sifnos, Manolis Fountaoulakis, told Greek media: “It experienced mechanical failure in the air; residents say it made a loud, strange noise, like military aircraft.”
2026-08-18 18:08:00
