Two Helicopters Collide Over Rio de Janeiro, Killing Six People
The June 14 mid-air collision killed all six people aboard the aircraft. One helicopter crashed into an electric-car dealership parking lot and set about 20 vehicles on fire.
The Sydney Morning HeraldTwo helicopters collided mid-air over the western suburb of Recreio dos Bandeirantes in Rio de Janeiro on June 14, 2026, killing all six people aboard, including American singer and comedian Oliver Tree. One helicopter carried Tree and four other passengers and crashed in the parking lot of an electric-car dealership, setting roughly 20 vehicles ablaze.
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The second helicopter carried only its pilot and came to rest about 100 meters away.
Rescue crews found one aircraft among the burning cars with five victims inside. Rio de Janeiro’s Military Fire Department extinguished the fire. Lithium-ion batteries in the electric vehicles required three to four times the normal volume of water to extinguish, according to fire services.
Police confirmed Tree’s name appeared on a passenger manifest. Bodies have not yet been formally identified because of severe burns. Tyre-repair worker Fernandes de Freitas said he saw one helicopter in flames and watched a passenger jump from the second aircraft before it struck the ground.
Fire services spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Fabio Contreiras told CNN Brasil that debris was scattered hundreds of meters from the impact site. “Parts of the aircraft are scattered hundreds of meters away, so the information we have is still very preliminary,” he said. Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere confirmed foreign nationals were aboard one of the aircraft.
An investigation by aviation authorities is under way. Tree had performed in São Paulo on June 6 and in Buenos Aires on June 4 as part of a world tour. His next scheduled show was in Lisbon on July 1.
He released an Instagram video on Saturday showing himself playing soccer in a Brazilian neighborhood. Tree maintained more than 11 million monthly listeners on Spotify, with his top tracks streamed over 700 million times. He had recently appeared at the 2026 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.
