Jack Fenton: Greece helicopter accident explained - who was former Oxford Brookes student killed in Athens?

Tributes have been paid to British man who died after being hit by a helicopter blade while on holiday in Greece.

Named as 22-year-old Jack Fenton, the young man died after disembarking from the helicopter in Athens.

The helicopter’s pilot and two ground technicians were arrested but have been released without charge according to reports.

Jack was on holiday with a group of family and friends at the time of his death.

What happened during Greece helicopter accident?

Jack was reported to be travelling via helicopter after visiting the island of Mykynos with his parents and three others.

Jack and the three friends had been in one helicopter, while his parents travelled behind is a seperate helicopter.

The young man was the first to disembark the vehicle, and moved to the back of the helicopter after he got off.

According to The Mirror, a Greek police source confirmed that Jack died after he was decapitated by the tail blades of the Bell 407 helicopter.

They said: “The blades were still in motion when he disembarked and our investigation has focused on possible negligence. The rota should have been at standstill when the young man left the aircraft.

“The case file has now been sent to the public prosecutor. The inquiry has been completed.”

A senior police offical said: “He was the first to disembark the Bell 407 helicopter in Athens and as he moved to the back, he was hit in the head by the aircraft’s small rear rotor,” a senior police official told The Times.

They added that there “was no chance of him surviving” and his death was “instantaneous”.

The pilot radioed to the second helicopter, which his parents were travelling in, and told the pilot that the accident had occured.

Jack’s parents were then transported to another airfield in Spata, with a source telling The Sun: “The pilot saw what had happened and decided to spare the parents the sight of their son - it was horrendous.”

Who was Jack Fenton?

Jack Fenton was a 22-year-old junior account executive at media company Ball Street Network, a job which he had only started in March 2022.

He had previously studied Sports Coaching, PE and Sports Studies at Oxford Brookes University, after having studied at public school Sutton Valance School in Kent as a child.

Mr Fenton’s mother Victoria described her son as “wonderful” and said that the family were “devastated”.

She told the MailOnline: “We only found out what happened at 10pm last night. We are completely devastated. He was the most wonderful boy.”

She added that Mr Fenton had exited the helicopter safely after it landed, but went behind it and was killed instantly by the rear propeller.

Mr Fenton was described as “very popular” by the headteacher of his former school in Maidstone, Kent.

James Thomas, headmaster of Sutton Valence School, said: “Our school was very sad to hear the tragic news about Jack this morning.

“He was a very popular member of the community, and we have sent our condolences to the family.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with all those affected by the incident.”

Has the pilot been charged?

Following his death, the pilot and two ground technicians were arrested in connection with the 22-year-old’s death.

However, according to the BBC they have been released without charge while the investigation continues.

However, Ioannis Kandyllis, president of Greece’s committee for aviation accidents, said: “All four passengers had disembarked and were escorted to a private lounge awaiting a private flight for London.

“But as they were in the lounge the victim broke away and returned to the tarmac, rushing to the helicopter at a fast pace.

“Witnesses we spoke to said he had a phone to his ear and was walking to the aircraft quickly, defying ground crew shouting to him, ‘Stop! Stop!’

“Within seconds the tragic accident occurred. It was horrific.”

Jack Stanton-Greeve, who was in the same group as his friend Jack, said that they had been given no instructions upon leaving the helicopter, and that people had been quick to blame him after Greek police said that Jac had been attempting to take a selfie at the time of his death.

The young man told The Sun: “All they did was open the doors for us. We disembarked on our own and no one stopped Jack from going to the rear of the helicopter.

“He was not on his phone and why he turned towards the rear of the helicopter I don’t know.”

A police source had also called the death “an unprecendented tragedy” that “should never have happened”.