Helicopter blade horror of Briton trying to take selfie
Friends look on as tourist, 22, dies in nightmare Greek accident
A FORMER public schoolboy was killed in a horrific holiday accident when he walked into a helicopter’s spinning rotor blade in Greece.
Police believe Jack Fenton, 22, who had been on a trip with the millionaire family of a friend, might have been trying to take a selfie when tragedy struck.
However, this version of events has since been disputed by the victim’s friends.
The social media marketing executive had flown into a helipad just outside Athens, having been staying on Mykonos.
It was one of two helicopters chartered by businessman, and local football club owner, Robin Stanton- Gleaves, whose two sons
‘We are completely devastated’
were also on the trip. It was soon after touching down in the town of Spata on Monday evening that Mr Fenton was killed. Mr Stanton-Gleaves, 54, was on the second aircraft which was due to touch down moments later but it was diverted following the accident.
Greek investigators claimed Mr Fenton and three school friends had safely disembarked and were in a private waiting room – but he then defied ground crew and turned back.
They say witnesses saw the keen footballer ‘walking fast’ towards the Bell 407 helicopter while the engines were still engaged with ‘a phone to his ear’ despite those around screaming ‘Stop!’
‘They shouted so loud that even the pilot who was still in the cabin of the aircraft wearing headphones heard them,’ said Ioannis Kandyllis, president of Greece’s committee for aviation accidents. ‘Within seconds the tragic accident occurred – it was horrific.’
But Mr Stanton- Gleaves’ son, Jack, 20, who was on board with Mr Fenton, yesterday dismissed the account as ‘totally untrue’. He said: ‘No instructions were given when exiting the helicopter and no one escorted us to the lounge. 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.
‘None of us reached the lounge before the accident happened. I’ve heard people say Jack was on his phone and ran back to the helicopter and this is totally untrue.
‘He was not on his phone and why he turned towards the rear of the helicopter I don’t know.’
Mr Fenton’s heartbroken mother, Victoria, who was not on the trip, said: ‘ We are completely devastated. He was the most wonderful boy. I think the pilot is in custody, but it was the most horrible of accidents by the looks of it.’
Speaking from her home in Tonbridge, Kent, she said he and his friends were celebrating a couple of birthdays and had taken earlier helicopter rides out to Mykonos ‘without any problems’.
Mr Fenton – who had previously attended independent Sutton Valence School in Maidstone – was a junior account executive at sports social media marketing specialist Ball Street Network.
Emergency services were called to the private heliport but he is thought to have been killed instantly. The pilot was arrested alongside two members of ground crew but police sources insisted this was a formality.
They have provided detailed accounts to the committee investigating the accident. Mr Kandyllis insisted all safety regulations were followed and is seeking surveillance footage of the death.