MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Two helicopters collide over Rio, killing six, including singer Oliver Tree and YouTuber Gaspi

All the victims were traveling in the aircraft. Among them were US singer Oliver Tree and Argentine YouTuber Gaspar Prim, known as Gaspi.

Two helicopters flying over Rio de Janeiro collided in mid-air on Sunday morning and crashed into an urban area of the city, in an accident that left six people dead, the fire department confirmed. All the victims were traveling in the aircraft. Among them were US singer Oliver Tree and Argentine YouTuber Gaspar Prim, known as Gaspi.

The collision occurred at around nine in the morning, local time, in the Recreio dos Bandeirantes neighborhood, in the west of the city. One of the helicopters came down on Avenida das Américas and the other struck an electric-vehicle depot, where a fire broke out that reached around twenty cars; one of the aircraft exploded on crashing. The aircraft involved were a Bell 206B, registration PP-MAC, and a second helicopter registered as PR-DJJ.

According to the preliminary identification released by the Civil Police —pending forensic confirmation— one of the helicopters was carrying Oliver Tree, Gaspi, Argentine music-video director Lucas Vignale, Brazilian music producer Lucas Brito Chaves and pilot Alexandre Souza; the other carried pilot Charles Marsillac. Oliver Tree, 32, the author of songs such as “Miss You” and “Life Goes On,” was on a world tour and had performed in São Paulo in the preceding days. Gaspi, 23, with 2.8 million subscribers, had gained international exposure after taking part in “La Velada del Año V,” the creator boxing event organized by Spain's Ibai Llanos in 2025.

“Accidente Aéreo”:
Porque así fue el momento donde chocaron loa dos helicópteros. Informan que fallecieron el youtuber Gaspi y al cantante Oliver Tree.pic.twitter.com/63B1Fxjslc

— Tendencias (@TTendenciaX) June 14, 2026

The causes of the accident remain under investigation. The Center for the Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA), part of the Air Force, was dispatched to the scene to collect data and preserve evidence, while the National Civil Aviation Agency (ANAC) is assessing the condition of the aircraft and the pilots' credentials. The fire department's spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Fabio Contreiras, told CNN Brasil that it was still unclear how the accident had occurred: “Parts of the aircraft are scattered hundreds of meters away, so the information we have is still very preliminary,” he said. Rio's mayor noted that there were foreign nationals on board one of the aircraft.

Helicopter traffic is constant in the airspace of Rio de Janeiro, crossed by air corridors over Guanabara Bay. The lot where one of the aircraft struck, according to the outlet G1, belongs to an abandoned church and had been rented by the Chinese electric-vehicle company BYD to park cars.