The Greek authorities continue the investigations to clarify the causes of the crash of the “Bell” helicopters that were extinguishing the fires in Western Attica.
After the crash, the Danish pilot and his Greek coordinator were the victims, while the British pilot and the Greek coordinator of the second helicopter survived.
The Danish pilot’s brother tells the story of 46-year-old Rune Kindal, who was killed fighting the fire.
Tue Kindal, speaking to dr.dk, recalls how he and his brother fell in love with aviation as children, after their father had taken them to Tirstrup Air Base and Brædstrup Airport.
“He decided that the cockpit would be his workplace,” says Tue, who is a pilot himself.
The children of the Kindal family, which has a total of three brothers, are third-generation pilots and flew “from early childhood” together with their father.
“My brother and I have flown a lot and I fly too,” adds Tue.
Both Tue and Rune started university. The older brother studied to be a surveyor, while Rune wanted to be an engineer.
The goal of the third brother, Kaare, was to become a surveyor like their father. But the sense of freedom attracted Rune, who left university to follow his dream and become a helicopter pilot.
He then moved to Vancouver, where he worked in the lumber and mining industries, Tue says.
Rune spent the last 20 years of his life working as a helicopter pilot. According to his brother, he dedicated his life to firefighting missions.
His missions as a helicopter pilot changed during his career.
He lived in Terrace, British Columbia, Canada. He had worked in heliskiing – an activity where skiers are transported by helicopter to the tops of mountains to ski off-piste on untouched snow.
“But he stopped it, because it was dangerous”, says Tue.
Instead, he turned to firefighting, where he could alternate a month of work with a month off.
“In fact, he considered it safe to fly to extinguish fires,” says Tue.
Unfortunately, the result was fatal, as the two helicopters collided and Rune lost his life along with the Greek coordinator.
Tue had spoken the day before the accident with his brother and he had sent him a photo of the helicopter he was about to fly.
“I was very proud to pilot this slightly bigger and slightly more powerful helicopter,” says Tue Kindal.
According to his brother, Rune was an extremely skilled and respected helicopter pilot. He even used the knowledge gained during his studies as an engineer to invent new methods of flying helicopters.
“When he completed 5,000 flight hours, he received an award from the Canadian aviation authority, which is given to all those who have flown 5,000 hours in a helicopter without incident. He gave this award to our mother. She has placed it on the mantelpiece in our house,” continues Tue.
The family is in contact with the Danish and Greek authorities to recover Rune’s body.
He leaves behind his wife and two young children, who were an important part of his life.
