Psatha: Who was the Danish pilot killed in the helicopter tragedy

The 46-year-old Rune Kyndal was the Danish pilot who lost his life when two Bell firefighting helicopters collided during an operation to extinguish the forest fire in Psatha on Sunday afternoon (03/08).

His identity was made public by his brother, Tue Kyndal, who spoke to Danish media, saying he wanted to honour his brother’s memory and highlight the importance of the mission in which he had been taking part.

“It is a great sorrow and unimaginably difficult that he died in this way. I want people to know that he was carrying out important work by helping fight the fires in Greece,” he said.

Rune Kyndal had logged more than 9,000 flight hours and was regarded as one of the most experienced helicopter pilots.

His elder brother described his love of flying, which had begun in childhood.

Their father had taken his children to aviation facilities such as Tirstrup Air Base and Brændstrup Airport in Denmark, and from then on the three brothers developed a passion for aviation.

“He made up his mind that the cockpit would be his workplace,” Tue Kyndal, who is also a private pilot, told dr.dk.

The Kyndal siblings were third-generation gliding enthusiasts and, as Rune’s brother put it, “they had been flying since they were children”.

He left university to become a helicopter pilot

Rune Kyndal initially studied to become an electronics engineer, but his love of flying proved stronger.

He left university and pursued his dream of becoming a helicopter pilot. His career took him as far as Canada, where he worked in British Columbia, supporting, among other things, the needs of the logging and mining industries.

His brother described him as “a very international person” who lived and worked in different countries.

He worked as a helicopter pilot for around two decades, with a significant part of his career devoted to firefighting operations.

“He believed firefighting by helicopter was safe”

His professional life involved many different challenges. During the winter, he also worked in heliskiing, transporting skiers by helicopter to snow-covered peaks.

However, he gave up that activity because he considered it dangerous.

“He stopped because it was dangerous,” his brother said.

By contrast, he found his passion in firefighting missions, where he could work for one month and then have one month off.

“He truly believed that flying firefighting missions was very safe. He was an exceptionally skilled pilot,” Tue Kyndal said.

His final contact with his family

Just one day before the accident, the two brothers had been in contact. Rune had sent a photograph of the helicopter he was due to fly.

“He was very proud to be flying this larger and more powerful helicopter,” his brother said.

According to him, Rune Kyndal was a highly respected pilot, with thousands of accident-free flight hours.

Indeed, when he completed 5,000 helicopter flight hours without an accident, he was honoured by the Canadian aviation authority.

“He gave the award to our mother. She still keeps it on the mantelpiece at our home in Fredericia,” his brother said.

The family is now in contact with the Greek and Danish authorities regarding the repatriation of his body to Denmark.