A devastating mid-air collision between two civilian helicopters over a Rio de Janeiro suburb left six people dead on Sunday, with Brazilian authorities launching a full investigation into the incident starting Monday.
The crash sent one of the damaged aircraft plummeting into the parking lot of a local car dealership, leaving a chaotic wreckage scene that local law enforcement and aviation safety officials spent hours systematically inspecting on Monday. Per passenger documents submitted to Brazil’s civil aviation authority, 32-year-old American singer and comedian Oliver Tree was on board that stricken helicopter. As of Monday afternoon, police had not confirmed that Tree’s remains had been recovered from the crash site, leaving his status unconfirmed.
Authorities have formally identified five of the six fatal victims. Among the dead is prominent Argentine digital content creator Gaspar Prim Díaz, better known to his 2.8 million YouTube subscribers as Gaspi. He was joined by fellow Argentine Lucas Vignale, and three Brazilian nationals: Lucas Brito, Charles Marsillac, and Alexandre Souza. The sixth fatality is an unidentified foreign national, police confirmed.
Alan Luxardo, a lead Rio de Janeiro police investigator assigned to the case, told reporters at the crash site Monday that human error is the leading preliminary hypothesis for the collision. Investigators are currently probing whether fault lies with air traffic control teams managing airspace over the region or with one of the two helicopter pilots. No other potential causes have been ruled out as the investigation proceeds.
Tree, who rose to fame for his offbeat musical style and comedic public persona, was in Rio as a stop on his ongoing world tour that includes scheduled performances across Argentina, Brazil, Portugal, and Spain. Just one day before the crash, on Saturday, Tree shared a lighthearted comedic video to his social media channels showing himself playing street soccer with local residents in a Rio neighborhood.
Within hours of news of the crash breaking, public figures from across entertainment and digital content creation began sharing tributes for the victims, with multiple posts honoring Tree. YouTuber and professional boxer Jake Paul was among the first to share a public statement, remembering Tree as “one of the most kind and funny people in the world.”
Drew Binsky, a popular travel content creator famous for documenting his trip to every sovereign country on Earth, also shared a heartfelt tribute on Instagram. Binsky wrote that Tree had recently reached out to him for travel tips, as the singer shared a goal of visiting every country around the globe. “We just spoke a few days ago and I was planning to show him around Prague in three weeks,” Binsky wrote. “He has become a great friend of mine and is genuinely one of the kindest and most positive people I’ve ever met.”
For Gaspi, Argentine streaming channel Blender, which collaborated with the creator, shared a public note of remembrance on X, writing “Every one of us will miss you,” while thanking him for his creative work.
Associated Press contributes reporting to this story. More coverage of Latin America news can be found at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america.