Italian Army Chinook on EU peacekeeping mission crashes near Brčko in Bosnia, killing four of the 15 aboard, EUFOR and Italy’s defence ministry say

An Italian Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter serving with the European Union’s peacekeeping force in Bosnia and Herzegovina crashed on Thursday, Oct. 29, near the northeastern town of Brčko, killing four of the 15 people aboard and injuring the other 11, according to the force and to Italy’s defence ministry (EUFOR; Reuters). EUFOR, the force that runs the EU’s Operation Althea, says the helicopter came down in the Gorice area “on the evening of 29th October 2026” while “conducting routine training” (EUFOR). Euronews places Gorice about 180 kilometres (110 miles) northeast of Sarajevo (Euronews).

In a later release, EUFOR identified the dead as two personnel from the Italian Armed Forces and two from the Italian Military Red Cross (EUFOR). Reuters, citing the ministry in Rome, describes the second pair as members of the Italian Red Cross’s Volunteer Military Corps, and reports that the ministry called none of the 11 injured in a life-threatening condition (Reuters). EUFOR says two of the injured moved to a medical facility in Tuzla for further treatment, nine others remain under treatment in Brčko, and all of them appear stable (EUFOR).

The count changed during the day. Brčko district mayor Siniša Milić first said three people had died and 12 had suffered injuries, one of them in a critical condition, Euronews reports. “All have been treated in a hospital in Brčko. Medical staff are on alert,” he said (Euronews). A spokesman for the Brčko hospital, Salih Ibrahimbegovic, later gave the reason for the change: “Twelve people were brought to our hospital. Unfortunately, a fourth person died from his injuries in hospital” (Euronews). Early posts on X, including one from @NationalIndNews at 10:33 a.m. PT, carried the first figure of three dead (@NationalIndNews on X).

EUFOR’s first statement says “no civilians were injured as a result of the crash” and that the crash caused no damage to “civilian infrastructure, property or vehicles.” Bosnian emergency services and EUFOR’s Liaison and Observation Team reached the scene, recovered the personnel and took them to medical facilities in Brčko, the force says (EUFOR). Italian news agency ANSA reported that the helicopter came down in the village of Gorice, and images in local media showed the aircraft “overturned on the ground and shattered into pieces,” according to Reuters (Reuters).

Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said: “At this moment of immense grief, my thoughts go first and foremost to the families of our fallen, to whom I extend my personal condolences and those of the entire Defence establishment.” He added: “There are no words capable of easing such a profound loss” (Reuters). Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni wrote on X: “My thoughts are with the victims, their families, and all those who, as part of the mission to promote peace and stability in the region are experiencing hours of anguish,” Reuters reports (Reuters). According to AeroCorner, the ministry released its details only after informing the families of those killed and sent an Italian medical team to support the injured (AeroCorner).

Neither EUFOR nor the ministry has named a cause. EUFOR says it “is conducting a thorough and complete investigation to ascertain the facts which led to this tragic accident” (EUFOR). Bosnia’s own defence ministry said “it is not possible to issue further statements, while awaiting more precise information, above all about the state of health of the personnel,” Euronews reports (Euronews). Video shared online appears to show the helicopter spinning as it descended, AeroCorner notes, but it adds that no official source has described the sequence of events (AeroCorner). This desk offers no cause.

EUFOR also asked the public to hold back. Its statement appeals to citizens “to refrain from any speculation regarding the nationalities and identities of EUFOR personnel involved” and says: “We understand the need for timely answers in situations such as this. However, accuracy must remain the priority” (EUFOR). In line with that request, this story names none of the victims; AeroCorner reports that officials had not named them as of Oct. 30 (AeroCorner).

The aircraft belongs to a fleet Italy built with Boeing. AeroCorner cites The Aviationist in identifying the helicopter as a CH-47F, and the tracking site ItaMilRadar as listing it as ICH-47F serial MM81782, one of two Chinooks deployed to Bosnia for the mission (AeroCorner). The Italian Army ordered 16 ICH-47Fs, assembled by AgustaWestland, now Leonardo, at Vergiate with fuselages built by Boeing in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania; the first two arrived in October 2014 to replace CH-47C Chinooks flown since 1973, according to AeroCorner, which places the fleet with the Army Aviation’s 1st Regiment “Antares” at Viterbo, north of Rome (AeroCorner).

EUFOR Althea took over from NATO in Bosnia in 2004 and works under a UN Security Council mandate, with roughly 1,200 troops, Euronews reports (Euronews). Reuters describes the operation as overseeing implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement (Reuters), which AeroCorner notes ended the 1992 to 1995 war (AeroCorner). In a closing note, EUFOR thanked media outlets “for the compassion and respect shown” in their reporting and said it “is deeply saddened by this tragic loss of life” (EUFOR). This desk also covered a separate military helicopter crash in Saudi Arabia this month (Seems News, Najran crash).