US singer Oliver Tree aboard helicopter in deadly mid-air crash in Brazil

RIO DE JENAIRO: American alt-pop singer and internet personality Oliver Tree was aboard one of two helicopters that collided Sunday mid-air in Brazil, leaving all six people aboard the aircraft dead, a police source told AFP.

The source shared the manifest of each plane and said the victims could not be formally identified yet as they were badly burned in the crash.

The helicopters collided in Recreio dos Bandeirantes, a western suburb of Rio de Janeiro, then plummeted into the parking lot of an electric car dealership, setting ablaze around 20 cars, firefighters said.

One of the helicopters was carrying five people, and the other just the pilot.

The passengers on the same helicopter as Tree included a Brazilian music producer, Argentine video director and Argentine YouTuber Gaspar Prim, known online as Gaspi.

The 32-year-old Tree – with a distinctive bowl haircut and eccentric, meme-worthy internet persona – was known for hits such as “Life Goes On,” “Miss You,” and “Alien Boy.”

He blended music with performance art, pranks and parody, internet trolling and performing high-risk stunts in some of his videos.

Many fans on social media wondered if reports of his death in the helicopter accident were another one of his elaborate bits.

Tree has over 11 million monthly listeners on Spotify, with his top songs listened to over 700 million times.

In recent days his Instagram account featured videos of him in Brazil, where he performed in Sao Paulo on June 6 on his tour of over 30 countries.

His next show was due in Lisbon on July 1.

Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Cavaliere said earlier that there were “foreign nationals on board one of the aircraft,” without giving further details.

‘A really loud explosion’

Burger King employee Thamires Santos, 27, said he was at work when he heard “a really loud explosion. The shop actually shook.”

After the collision he saw helicopter parts “flying in all directions.”

Fire services spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Fabio Contreiras told CNN Brasil at the scene that it was unclear exactly how the accident unfolded.

“Parts of the aircraft are scattered hundreds of meters away, so the information we have is still very preliminary,” he said. “We really need to get the recordings and videos to understand exactly what happened.”

Contreiras said rescue workers had discovered one helicopter in flames among the electric cars, with five victims inside.

A second helicopter found some 100 meters away was carrying only the pilot, who also died.

“Given the surrounding residences, the accident could have been far more tragic,” said Contreiras.

He highlighted the challenges in fighting a fire impacting electric vehicles, which contain lithium-ion batteries.

“When this type of battery catches fire, it releases highly toxic gases and intensifies both the temperature and the severity of the blaze. Extinguishing a fire in one of these vehicles requires three to four times the amount of water needed for a fire in a standard car.”

Small aircraft crashes are common in Brazil, the world’s fifth-largest country.

Last month a small plane crashed into the side of a building in the southeastern city of Belo Horizonte, killing the pilot and copilot.

According to statistics from the Center for Investigation and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (CENIPA) – not including this latest collision – there have been 84 aircraft accidents in 2026 so far, leaving 25 people dead.