Four killed in Italian Army Chinook crash on EUFOR mission in Bosnia

Four Italian military personnel were killed, and a further 11 injured, when an Italian Army CH-47 Chinook crashed near Brčko, in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina, on October 29, 2026. The helicopter was assigned to the European Union’s EUFOR Althea mission. 

In a statement released the same day, the Italian Ministry of Defense said that 15 people were on board. Two of the casualties were from the Italian Army and two from the Italian Red Cross Military Volunteer Corps, an auxiliary corps of the Italian armed forces. 

According to the ministry, the 11 injured parties were receiving treatment and none were in a life-threatening condition. It has sent an Italian medical team to support them. 

EUFOR investigates fatal training crash near Brčko 

WATCH: The moment an Italian military CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed in Bosnia and Herzegovina today. https://t.co/DeyuyWx6Du— Clash Report (@clashreport) October 29, 2026

EUFOR stated that the helicopter went down during routine training in the Gorice area of the Brčko District, near the border with Serbia and about 180 kilometers (112 miles) from Sarajevo. 

A spokesperson for Brčko hospital announced that three people died at the scene and a fourth died later in hospital. EUFOR added that no civilians had been hurt and no civilian property was damaged. 

The cause of the accident has not yet been established. The Italian Ministry of Defense declared that investigators had already begun working to reconstruct what happened, while EUFOR said it is conducting its own full investigation. Italy’s ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina told Italian media that the accident appeared to have happened during takeoff. 

Swiss public broadcaster RSI reported that the helicopter left Viterbo on the morning of October 28, 2026, and stopped at Pratica di Mare Air Base before flying on to Bosnia. 

EUFOR Althea took over from NATO’s peacekeeping force in 2004. It has about 1,200 personnel and has been under Italian command since January 2026. 

Italy identifies four victims of Chinook crash 

Defense Minister Guido Crosetto later identified the victims as Sergeant Simone Ruggia and Sergeant Claudio Marchesi of Italian Army Aviation (AVES), and Lieutenant Franco Adriano Zecchillo and Sergeant Laura Procacci of the Red Cross Military Volunteer Corps. 

Italian media reported that Ruggia and Marchesi were based in Viterbo and were the helicopter’s pilot and crew specialist. Zecchillo was a doctor, Procacci a nurse. 

“In this moment of immense grief, my thoughts go first and foremost to the families of our fallen,” Crosetto said in the ministry’s statement. “There are no words capable of filling such a great loss.” 

He added that, in the hardest moments, the defense community “must show that it can be united, present and capable of taking care of its own men and women”. 

The ministry noted that it had released details of the accident only after informing the victims’ families. President Sergio Mattarella and Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni also sent condolences. 

Italy’s Chinook fleet 

The Italian Army ordered 16 ICH-47F Chinooks in 2009. The ICH-47F is a customized version of Boeing’s CH-47F, with final assembly by AgustaWestland, now Leonardo, at Vergiate in northern Italy. 

The first two were delivered in October 2014 to the 1st Army Aviation Regiment ‘Antares’ in Viterbo. They replaced CH-47Cs that had been in service since 1973.The post Four killed in Italian Army Chinook crash on EUFOR mission in Bosnia appeared first on AeroTime.

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