Jack Fenton was NOT 'on his phone' when he was killed by helicopter blade, says his friend
Jack Fenton, the British tourist who died in a freak helicopter accident while returning from Greece on Monday, July 25, was not "distracted by his phone," according to his friends.
Fenton was on his way back home from Mykonos after celebrating his birthday with pals. Greek investigators believe the 22-year-old ran back onto the tarmac after safely alighting the aircraft as he wanted to take a selfie, despite warnings by the crew. Fenton was subsequently killed as he ran into a whirring blade. Now, 20-year-old Jack Stanton-Gleaves, who was with Fenton at the time, has disputed that account.
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Stanton-Gleaves was riding the chopper with Fenton's other pals James Yeabsley, 19, and Max Savage, 20, who are said to be "traumatized" following the tragedy. “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," Stanton-Greaves told the Daily Mail. "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.” He added, “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.”
A British man who died in a helicopter accident in Greece has been named as Jack Fenton, who was in his early 20s.
— Channel 5 News (@5_News) July 26, 2022
His family have paid tribute to him saying they are devastated.@MarkDMcQuillan | #5News pic.twitter.com/oXeiFw3ga9
The Bell 407 helicopter taken by Fenton and his friends was piloted by Christos Fragkopanagos, who was arrested alongside ground technicians Salim Milat and Spyros Andriopoulos. However, the trio was later released after they testified that Fenton had been escorted inside the craft before he ran back outside. Now, Fragkopanagos, Milat, and Andriopoulos could face negligence or manslaughter charges if it’s determined that they told passengers to disembark when it was not safe to do so.
Part of the police report in Greek regarding the death of Jack Patrick Fenton (b. 30 June 2000) who died at a heliport in #Athens after being struck by the helicopter’s tail rotor as he exited the aircraft.
— Daphne Tolis (@daphnetoli) July 26, 2022
The pilot and 2 ground crew have been arrested. #Greece pic.twitter.com/ybNQkrCu31
In a statement, Ioannis Kandyllis, president of Greece's committee for aviation accidents probing the incident, said Fenton ran back towards the helicopter with his phone to his ear. “All four passengers had disembarked and were escorted to a private lounge awaiting a private flight for London," Kandyllis claimed, as quoted by The Sun. “But as they were in the lounge the victim broke away and returned to the tarmac rushing to the helicopter at a fast pace. Witnesses we spoke to said he had a phone to his ear and was walking fast to the aircraft, defying ground crew shouting to him 'Stop! Stop!' Within seconds the tragic accident occurred. It was horrific," he added.
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MEAWW previously reported how Fenton, an alumnus of Oxford Brookes Centre for Nutrition and Health, “suffered horrific head injuries caused by a spinning rotor blade” after deboarding the black Bell 407 craft with his three friends at the Superior Air helipad in Spata. His parents were said to be in another chopper. The Sun reported that the victim was “unaware that a rotor was still spinning,” before he was fatally struck at around 6.20 pm on July 25. “The pilot saw what had happened and decided to spare the parents the sight of their son - it was horrendous," an insider told the newspaper. “He flew on to another helipad at Athens where the couple were consoled as it was confirmed that the young man was dead."