HELSINKI, May 18 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Five people were killed when two helicopters collided and crashed in a wooded area near Eura airport in south-western Finland, police said.
Police said the mid-air collision occurred shortly after noon on Saturday near the town of Kauttua, with the wreckage falling 700 metres from the Ohikulkutie road.
“Five people have died in a helicopter accident near Eura airport on Saturday,” DCI Johannes Siirilä, of the National Bureau of Investigation, said.
Media reported that the helicopters had taken off from Estonia and were carrying business people, with three people in one and two in the other.
Finnish newspaper Iltalehti quoted a witness, Antti Marjanen, as saying he saw one of the helicopters hit the other during a manoeuvre.
“One of them dropped like a stone and the other one more slowly. I didn’t hear any sound,” Marjanen was quoted as saying.
One helicopter was registered in Estonia and the other in Austria, according to an Estonian Public Broadcasting report, citing Finland’s Helsingin Sanomat newspaper. Both belonged to Estonian companies. One was owned by NOBE and the other by Eleon, the report added.
The helicopters were reportedly en route to a hobby aviation event, according to the Pori Aviation Club.
The National Bureau of Investigation is leading a joint inquiry with local police, and Finnish and Estonian authorities are cooperating. — NNN-AGENCIES