Four Italian personnel serving with the European Union’s peacekeeping force in Bosnia and Herzegovina were killed and 11 others were injured when an Italian Army CH-47 Chinook helicopter crashed during a routine training flight near the town of Brcko on Thursday, October 29, 2026. Fifteen people were on board the aircraft, and all of them were Italian nationals, according to the Italian defence ministry and the European Union Force, known as EUFOR.
Key Takeaways
- An Italian Army CH-47 Chinook on a routine EUFOR training flight crashed near Gorice in the Brcko District on October 29, 2026.
- Four people were killed and 11 were injured out of 15 people on board, with the injured reported in stable condition.
- The cause of the crash has not been determined, and EUFOR and the Italian defence ministry have opened investigations.
The helicopter came down in the Gorice area of the Brcko District in northern Bosnia, about 180 kilometres north of the capital, Sarajevo. EUFOR said the aircraft was taking part in routine training as part of Operation Althea, the EU’s military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Local media images showed the wreckage of the large twin-rotor transport helicopter lying on open, grassy ground.
What Happened Near Brcko
EUFOR confirmed the crash in a statement and said no civilian infrastructure, property or vehicles were damaged and no civilians were injured. The force said it was conducting a full and thorough investigation and would release more information once it had been verified.
The force said it was conducting a full and thorough investigation and would release more information once it had been verified.
- 15 people were on board the helicopter, all of them Italian nationals.
- Four people were killed and 11 were injured, with the injured in stable condition.
- No civilians were injured and no civilian property was damaged, according to EUFOR.
- The cause has not been determined and remains under investigation.
The early casualty figures changed as the day went on, which is common in fast-moving reports from a crash site. Brcko District Mayor Sinisa Milic initially reported three dead and 12 injured. A spokesman for Brcko hospital later said three people had died at the scene and a fourth person died in hospital after being admitted, bringing the confirmed toll to four dead and 11 injured. The Italian defence ministry then confirmed the same final figures: four killed and 11 injured, with none of the injured in a life-threatening condition.
That sequence matters because it explains why some early reports carried different numbers. The confirmed figures used here are the ones given by EUFOR and the Italian defence ministry after the hospital update, not the first reports from the scene.
Who Was Killed
Italy said the four people killed were two members of the Italian Army and two members of the Italian Red Cross Military Volunteer Corps. The Italian defence ministry later named them as Sergeant Simone Ruggia and Sergeant Claudio Marchesi of the Italian Army, and Lieutenant Franco Adriano Zecchillo and Sergeant Laura Procacci of the Italian Red Cross Military Volunteer Corps.
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto confirmed the identities after their families had been notified. The 11 injured were taken to hospital in Brcko, where officials said they were in stable condition and receiving treatment.
The crash is a reminder that training flights, even in peacetime, carry real risk for the crews who fly them. The helicopter involved was a heavy-lift transport aircraft, the kind used to move troops and equipment, and it was flying with a full complement of personnel on board when it went down. Other recent helicopter accidents this week, including a mid-air collision in Oregon, have underlined how quickly a routine flight can turn into a tragedy.
Operation Althea And The Investigation
EUFOR Althea is the European Union’s military operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It took over from a NATO peacekeeping force in 2004 and works to maintain a safe and secure environment and to support the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia. The force has around 1,200 personnel, and Italy currently provides a significant contribution to the operation.
Both EUFOR and the Italian defence ministry have opened investigations into the cause of the crash. No official cause has been given so far, and officials have urged the public to rely on official channels rather than unverified material circulating online. Video footage shared on social media has not been independently verified, and no official source has yet described the sequence of events in the air.
Investigators will now examine the wreckage, the flight recorders if recovered, maintenance records and the conditions at the time of the flight. That process takes time, and early speculation about a cause should not be treated as a finding. A similar helicopter crash in Uttarakhand this week, in which six people were killed, is also under investigation, showing how separate inquiries proceed in parallel after unrelated accidents.
What to Watch Next
What happens next is, in the first place, the investigation itself. EUFOR has said it will release more information once it has been verified, and the Italian defence ministry is running its own inquiry alongside it. The next official updates should confirm the condition of the injured, the progress of the investigation and any decision about the operation’s training flights in the coming days.
For now, the confirmed facts are stark and simple: a routine training flight near Brcko ended with four Italian peacekeepers dead, 11 injured and a force in mourning. The cause remains unknown, and the families of those killed have been notified before any further detail is released.