Defence Minister Nikos Dendias has declared three days of mourning for the armed forces, running from Saturday to Monday, following the deaths of the two crew members of an F-4E Phantom II that crashed during Saturday’s Athens Flying Week air show in Tanagra.

In a post, the Defence Minister said: “The news of the loss of the lives of two Hellenic Air Force pilots, in the accident at Athens Flying Week, causes the deepest sorrow to us all. Our thoughts at the Ministry of National Defence are with their families and colleagues, to whom we extend our most sincere condolences.”

The two pilots who died were named as Squadron Leader Ioannis Blesias, 40, and Flight Lieutenant Dimitrios Petrou, 37. According to a statement from the Hellenic Air Force General Staff, the F-4E Phantom II, belonging to 338 Squadron of 117 Combat Wing, crashed at 14:55 on Saturday, around three nautical miles southeast of 114 Combat Wing, while taking part in the Athens Flying Week display. The Hellenic Air Force said the causes of the accident are being investigated by a committee appointed to look into the incident.

Age not a factor in Tanagra Phantom accident

The international air show Athens Flying Week, organised by the company of the same name, has been held since 2012, while on 6 December 2017 a 10-year memorandum of cooperation was signed between the Hellenic Air Force General Staff and Athens Flying Week, military sources point out, in the wake of yesterday’s tragic accident in Tanagra.

According to prevailing international practice, air shows are mainly organised by private companies, the same sources continue. Notably, the Hellenic Air Force was invited this year to take part in 30 international air shows, the majority of which (18 air shows) are organised by private companies, it is stressed.

Regarding the F-4E Phantom, it had carried out all the necessary maintenance and inspection procedures in accordance with current Hellenic Air Force protocols and was fully airworthy. Its participation in Athens Flying Week 2026 involved a flypast rather than an aerobatic display. The aerobatic display is performed by the Zeus Aerobatic Demonstration Team, flying F-16 aircraft.

There is no question of “age”, the same sources emphasise in this context, given that similar events in Greece and abroad feature Second World War aircraft (Spitfires and others), or even First World War aircraft.

“He was an angel”

“Dimitri mou… all of us in Pramanta are mourning your unjust loss today”: with this post, the mayor of Voreia Tzoumerka, Nikos Vaitsis, conveyed the grief felt by the local community of Pramanta over the untimely death of Petrou.

Visibly shaken, Vaitsis said: “Whenever he was due to fly over Pramanta, he would call his elderly grandmother, Ms Stathoula, to tell her what time to come outside so she could see him and he could wave to her from the sky.”

There was shock, too, in Polystafylo, Preveza, the village of Petrou’s father. The community president, Konstantinos Karavidas, spoke of grief across the wider area. “He was an angel… while his grandparents were alive he used to come all the time, he loved the village. They are a much-loved family. His father is a retired police officer and his mother a retired teacher. He also has a sister,” Karavidas said, revealing another painful detail of the tragedy: the following Saturday, 12 September, in Katsika, Ioannina, where his parents live, Petrou had been due to christen his five-month-old daughter.

Ioannis Blesias, 40.
Dimitrios Petrou, 37.
The two Hellenic Air Force aviators lost today aboard the 338 Squadron F-4E Phantom at Tanagra.

Behind every display are people. Today, two of them didn't come home.

Rest in peace. 🇬🇷🕯️ pic.twitter.com/sMq6UOhu5O

— European Airshows (@EuroAirshow) September 5, 2026

How the tragedy unfolded

The crash happened at around 3pm, during the Athens Flying Week air show in Tanagra. Authorities said there was no indication that the aircraft’s ejection mechanism had been activated. At the crash site, where fire broke out immediately, two ambulances and two vehicles from the National Centre for Emergency Care (EKAB) responded straight away.

The aircraft crashed shortly after beginning its display, with hundreds of people watching from close by.

According to witnesses, the jet appeared to be emitting smoke before it went down, and the same accounts say it suddenly began losing altitude before crashing.

WATCH: The moment a Greek Air Force F-4 Phantom crashes during an aerial display at Tanagra Air Base. pic.twitter.com/Sa8n5kelYr

— Clash Report (@clashreport) September 5, 2026

According to the same sources, the aircraft broke in two and fires broke out at two separate locations.

Those present at the scene were left in shock, while event organisers immediately began evacuating the area.

Δύο πολύ έμπειρα στελέχη

Στελέχη των Ενόπλων Δυνάμεων που γνώριζαν τους δύο άτυχους χειριστές, κάνουν λόγο για πολύ έμπειρα στελέχη, αφού στην περίπτωση του Επισμηναγού, Ιωάννη Μπλέσια, ο τελευταίος διέθετε, κατά πληροφορίες, πάρα πολλές ώρες πτήσης και πατέρα αεροπόρο, ενώ δύο είναι προς στιγμήν τα σενάρια που συζητώνται στους κόλπους της Πολεμικής Αεροπορίας. Είτε, δηλαδή, σημειώθηκε κάποιο πρόβλημα στο μαχητικό αεροσκάφος από την πίεση που δέχτηκε από τον ελιγμό την ώρα της επίδειξης, καθώς πρόκειται για βομβαρδιστικό συγκεκριμένης αποστολής και δυνατοτήτων, είτε κάποιο σμήνος πουλιών, που υπάρχουν στην συγκεκριμένη περιοχή, προκάλεσε μηχανική βλάβη στους κινητήρες. Πάντως, αν το αεροσκάφος εμφάνιζε μηχανικό πρόβλημα εξαρχής, στελέχη των Ενόπλων Δυνάμεων εκτιμούν πως οι δύο άτυχοι χειριστές θα ενεργοποιούσαν το σύστημα εκτόξευσης ή θα αντιδρούσαν με πιο έντονο τρόπο, προκειμένου να διασωθούν οι ίδιοι, αλλά και το αεροσκάφος.

Το γεγονός ότι το αεροσκάφος συνετρίβη εκτός του στρατιωτικού αεροδρομίου της Τανάγρας αποτελεί, κατά ορισμένα στελέχη, μια ένδειξη της προσπάθειας των δύο άτυχων χειριστών να προφυλάξουν τους συμμετέχοντες, που μένει να επιβεβαιωθεί, την ώρα που οι εικόνες της πρόσκρουσης του Phantom ξύπνησαν μνήμες από το τραγικό δυστύχημα στην Ανδραβίδα το 2023, οπότε είχε συντριβεί και πάλι F-4E Phantom από την 338 Μοίρα της 117 Πτέρυγας Μάχης, με αποτέλεσμα το θανάσιμο τραυματισμό του Σμηναγού Ευστάθιου Τσιτλακίδη και του Υποσμηναγού Μάριου – Μιχαήλ Τουρούτσικα.

Two highly experienced officers

Armed Forces officers who knew the two unfortunate pilots describe them as highly experienced, noting that Squadron Leader Ioannis Blesias reportedly had a very high number of flying hours to his name and came from a family with a father who was also an airman. Meanwhile, two scenarios are currently being discussed within the Hellenic Air Force.

Either the fighter aircraft, a bomber with a specific mission profile and capabilities, developed a fault as a result of the stress placed on it by the manoeuvre during the display, or a flock of birds, known to be present in the area, caused mechanical damage to the engines.

Armed Forces officers believe, however, that if the aircraft had shown a mechanical fault from the outset, the two pilots would have activated the ejection system or reacted more forcefully in order to save both themselves and the aircraft.

The fact that the aircraft crashed outside Tanagra military airbase is seen by some officers as an indication, yet to be confirmed, that the two pilots tried to protect those taking part in the event. The images of the Phantom’s impact have revived memories of the tragic accident in Andravida in 2023, when another F-4E Phantom from 338 Squadron of the 117th Combat Wing crashed, fatally injuring Flight Lieutenant Efstathios Tsitlakidis and Flying Officer Marios-Michail Touroutsikas.

Two people injured by debris from fatal Phantom crash

Wreckage from the F-4 Phantom, the Hellenic Air Force jet that crashed in Tanagra, central Greece, on the sidelines of the Athens Flying Week air show, was found scattered far from the crash site, in an accident that killed both officers on board.

Pieces of the aircraft have turned up at several points around the area, including near the buildings and warehouses of a factory close to where the jet came down. At the same time, two people were injured by fragments from the aircraft and taken to Chalkida Hospital for initial treatment, according to reports.

A Greek two-seat F-4 Phantom fighter jet crashed during an air show at Tanagra air base north of Athens, killing the pilots https://t.co/ReK6JvxenI pic.twitter.com/pGR3Sf1LPk

— Reuters (@Reuters) September 5, 2026

All evidence being gathered for the investigation

Military personnel at the scene are now focused on collecting the wreckage, so that all the material needed for the technical inquiry can be gathered. At the same time, two people were injured by fragments from the aircraft and taken to Chalkida Hospital for initial treatment, according to reports.

The aim is to move all the evidence to a secure location, so that experts can later carry out a detailed analysis and establish the exact causes of the tragedy.

The history of the Phantom in the Hellenic Air Force

The F-4 Phantom II is one of the most iconic fighter aircraft in aviation history. It is a two-seat, twin-engine, multi-role American-built fighter, designed to carry out air superiority, interception, bombing and reconnaissance missions.

The first F-4s rolled off the production line in the early 1960s, while the Hellenic Air Force took delivery of its first Phantoms in 1974, under the Peace Icarus defence programme.

Although it belongs to the second generation of supersonic fighters, the F-4 gained a new lease of operational life through extensive modernisation. A total of 36 Greek Phantoms were upgraded with modern electronic systems under the Peace Icarus 2000 (PI2000) programme, extending their operational service and enabling the use of modern weapons.

Today, F-4E Phantoms operate from the 117th Combat Wing at Andravida Air Base, where they form the main equipment of the 338th Squadron, known as “Aris” (Ares).