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| Date: | Wednesday 30 July 2025 |
| Time: | 07:50 |
| Type: |  Air Tractor AT-802F FireBoss |
| Owner/operator: | Pays Air Service |
| Registration: | VH-DUQ |
| MSN: | 802-0241 |
| Year of manufacture: | 2006 |
| Engine model: | P&W Canada PT6A-67AG |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | 20 km NNE of LGTS - Thessaloniki Airport Makedonia Region -
 Greece
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Fire fighting |
| Departure airport: | Thessaloniki International Airport (SKG/LGTS) |
| Thessaloniki International Airport (SKG/LGTS) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
An amphibious Air Tractor AT‑802, configured for firefighting and with 2 crew members on board, departed from Thessaloniki Airport Makedonia, Greece. The aircraft, along with 2 other company aircraft, was headed to a fire located about 40 km north of the airport. At about 20 km south of the fire location, all 3 aircraft commenced water scooping operations at Lake Koroneia.
The amphibious aircraft was designed to scoop water by lowering a retractable intake hole underneath the aircraft while skimming the surface of a body of water at high speed, using the forward motion to force water into the onboard tanks. Prior to scooping operations, pilots will conduct a visual inspection of the proposed scooping area to look for obstacles both on top of and submerged in the water.
The pilot conducted a water inspection and recalled that the water appeared murky and was difficult to see through. During water uplift, the crew of the aircraft reported hearing an impact and immediately initiated a climb to gain height.
The 2 accompanying aircraft flew alongside the Air Tractor to conduct a visual inspection and reported that the right float had dislodged from its mounts. All 3 aircraft made the decision to return to Thessaloniki Airport, with the pilot of the Air Tractor notifying air traffic control and declaring an emergency.
At 0817 the Air Tractor landed on runway 34, however the damaged right float struts were unable to support the weight of the aircraft, and it collapsed onto the right float after landing (Figure 1). The aircraft was subsequently stranded on the runway and emergency services attended. The crew members evacuated the aircraft without injury.
Following the accident, the pilot reported that all 3 aircraft had successfully completed water uplifts from the same location on the previous day. On this occasion, the pilot reported that the glassy water conditions[1] made it difficult to establish the aircraft's height above the water's surface, and the aircraft had hit a submerged object during the scooping run. Due to the risk of unknown hazards at this location, the operator sent a direction to all crew to suspend scooping operations from Lake Koroneia until further notice.
Sources:
https://www.atsb.gov.au/publications/occurrence-briefs/2025/aviation/ground-strike-involving-air-tractor-802-20-km-north-north-east-thessaloniki-airport-makedonia-greece-30-july-2025
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 30-Aug-2025 06:49 | Anon. | Added |
| 30-Aug-2025 06:51 | ASN | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Source, Narrative, ] |
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