The name of the well-to-do young British man who tragically perished in Greece after walking into a helicopter’s rotating rotor blade has been revealed.
Former public school student Jack Fenton, 22, was reportedly taking a photo when he got out of the car last night on a private helipad outside the Greek capital after boarding a flight with three companions from the popular island of Mykonos.
The Oxford Brookes student was killed yesterday at 6:20 p.m. when he walked behind the Bell 407 helicopter while its engines were still running.
He attended the £36,000-per-year Sutton Valence boarding school in Maidstone, Kent.
Emergency services were dispatched to the private heliport outside of Athens, but it’s believed that the victim was quickly killed by the fast rotor.
Investigators are looking into the accident’s circumstances, but if the pilot ordered the passengers out of the helicopter before the engine and propellers had completely stopped, he might be charged with manslaughter.
Athens-based It’s probable that the victim “was on a call or was trying to take a selfie when the disaster happened,” according to Open TV.
The gang was travelling back to the UK from Mykonos to Athens on a private charter flight, with his parents trailing behind in a second helicopter.
The pilot who had landed, seen the horrible event, and heard it radioed to him notified his colleague of what had happened.
To avoid Mr. Fenton’s parents seeing the site of the fatal tragedy, the pilot of the second helicopter made the decision to turn away from the private airstrip in Spata and instead made an impromptu landing at Athens International Airport.
The family was supposed to disembark at the Superior Air helipad and then be driven to Eleftherios Venizelos airport to board the family’s private jet for the voyage back to the UK.
Miguel Fenton, the father of Jack Fenton, oversees marketing, sales, and public relations at The Hop Farm, a 400-acre country park and tourist destination in Beltring, Kent, close to Tonbridge.
‘This is a personal situation, nothing to do with the business, and we have no comment,’ a representative for the Hop Farm told MailOnline.
The brewery owned the farm, which was formerly known as The Whitbread Hop Farm and has the biggest collection of oast houses in the world, up until 1997.
Why Mr. Fenton left the aeroplane while the rotors were still spinning will be the main focus of the investigation by the police and the aircraft.
Unless the pilot depresses a button to stop them after about 50 seconds, the propellers typically continue spinning for about two minutes after the engine has been turned off.
The helicopter has no locks, and the only person in charge of keeping the passengers safe is the pilot.
Pilots should be sure to give their passengers a comprehensive briefing to stay inside until all movement has stopped.
Today, the pilot and two airport representatives came in front of a prosecutor to provide testimony regarding the alleged acts of negligence.
Before leaving for the UK, Fenton’s buddies, who are all in their twenties, also provided statements.
The Bell 407 helicopter type, to my knowledge, doesn’t lock from the inside, according to George Kaliakmanis, president of the Union of Police Officers of Southeast Attica.
The emphasis of the investigation will now be the pilot’s safety precautions. He told them to wait, did he not?
“The helicopter has two propellers.” There are two that run at 500 and 2500 spins per second, respectively.
Unless he presses a button that stops the propellers after 50 seconds, they continue to spin for nearly 2 minutes after the engine is turned off.
Also keep in mind that due to the speed, the propellers are not visible.
According to sources, taking two helicopters the 115 miles would have cost more than £15,000.