A helicopter operated by Saudi Aramco crashed in the company’s Ras Tanura terminal on Sunday morning, killing all 14 Saudi nationals on board. The Saudi Energy Ministry has opened a full investigation into the cause, which remains unknown. The crash was reported by the official Saudi Press Agency at approximately 6 a.m. local time (03:00 GMT) on June 28, 2026.
The United Arab Emirates became one of the first regional governments to react, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issuing a statement of solidarity and condolences the same day. Aramco had resumed oil loadings at the terminal on Friday, June 26, per CNN, after a halt that lasted “nearly four months.” The suspension stemmed from the US-Israeli war on Iran, per Al Jazeera. The helicopter came down the same weekend as the post-halt restart.
The Crash at Ras Tanura
Saudi state news agency SPA carried the Energy Ministry statement reporting the crash at Ras Tanura on June 28, 2026. “The Ministry of Energy regrets to announce that a helicopter operated by Saudi Aramco crashed in Ras Tanura on Sunday, June 28, 2026, at approximately 6:00 a.m,” the SPA report said. The crash resulted “in the death of all 14 individuals on board, all of whom were Saudi nationals.”
The “relevant authorities have launched a full investigation to determine the cause of the crash,” SPA said. The agency did not name the helicopter type, the flight path, or the work the aircraft was performing at the time of the crash, and the ministry’s statement stopped at confirming the time, the location, the number of dead, and the nationality of the victims.
Aramco did not respond immediately to a request for comment, per CNN. The terminal is in Ras Tanura, on Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast, west of the Strait of Hormuz. The helicopter crashed “in Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura terminal,” per Al Jazeera.
- 14 people on board, all Saudi nationals
- 6 a.m. local (03:00 GMT) on June 28, 2026
- Friday, June 26: Aramco resumed oil loadings after a near four-month halt
- Sunday, June 28: helicopter crash at the same terminal
UAE Sends Condolences to Saudi Arabia
Abu Dhabi’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued its condolence statement on Sunday, addressing the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia directly. MoFA said it had conveyed “sincere condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims, as well as to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its people over this tragedy,” and the message was carried by the ministry’s official channels, including its X account @mofauae.
The UAE has expressed its solidarity with the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the victims of the Saudi Aramco helicopter crash in Ras Tanura, which resulted in the deaths of all those on board.
The statement came from the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, posted on X by the ministry’s verified @mofauae account. The post was timestamped 11:27 p.m. on June 28, 2026, and titled “UAE Expresses Solidarity with Saudi Arabia and Conveys Condolences over Helicopter Crash.” UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs solidarity post had drawn 20,638 views and 15 retweets by the time of reporting.
A Site Just Back From the Brink
The crash came days after Saudi Aramco resumed crude oil loadings at the same terminal. Aramco had restarted loadings at Ras Tanura on Friday, June 26, per CNN. The halt had lasted “nearly four months,” per CNN. The Friday restart was a return to normal for one of the world’s most important crude oil export hubs, per Oil & Gas Middle East.
The suspension of loadings at the terminal stemmed from the US-Israeli war on Iran, per Al Jazeera. Aramco’s restart on Friday came ahead of an interim deal to halt the war between the United States and Iran, per CNN. The restart was framed by regional outlets as a return to normal for Gulf oil flows. Saudi Arabia is “the world’s biggest oil exporter,” per a CNN report that drew on the SPA statement, and the terminal is the visible end of the kingdom’s export pipeline. The crash on Sunday landed on the same weekend as the post-halt restart.
The Saudi Energy Ministry used the term “martyrs” in its statement. “The Ministry of Energy extends its deepest condolences and sincere sympathies to the families of the martyrs, praying that Almighty Allah grants them mercy and forgiveness and accepts them as martyrs,” the ministry said in the statement carried by SPA.
“Investigations are underway, with the participation of relevant authorities, to determine the causes of the helicopter crash,” SPA said, per the Jerusalem Post. The cause, the helicopter type, and the work the crew were doing at the terminal all remain undisclosed. Operations at the wider Ras Tanura complex have not been reported as disrupted by the crash itself, and the Energy Ministry’s investigation is into the helicopter, not the facility’s operations.
Why Ras Tanura Carries Global Weight
Ras Tanura sits at the center of Saudi Arabia’s crude oil export network. The site is “one of the world’s most important crude oil export hubs and a central part of the Kingdom’s energy infrastructure,” per Oil & Gas Middle East. Ras Tanura hosts the largest refinery in the Middle East, per the Jerusalem Post. The wider complex is connected by pipeline to several major producing fields.
Those fields include the Ghawar Oil Field, described by Oil & Gas Middle East as the world’s largest conventional oilfield. Aramco, the operator, is “the national oil company of Saudi Arabia and the world’s largest integrated energy and chemicals corporation,” per the Jerusalem Post, and is headquartered in Dhahran. Aramco’s stock trades on the Saudi exchange under the ticker 2222.SE, per the Jerusalem Post.
- Operator: Saudi Aramco
- Refinery: largest in the Middle East
- Pipeline link: connected to the Ghawar Oil Field, the world’s largest conventional oilfield
- Coast: eastern Saudi Arabia, west of the Strait of Hormuz
Aramco also holds the world’s largest proven crude oil reserves, per the Jerusalem Post. The crash, on the same weekend as the post-halt restart, has put the spotlight on operational safety at the most visible point of Saudi Arabia’s export machine.
The Investigation So Far
The Energy Ministry has confirmed a “full investigation” but has not disclosed a cause. “Further details about the helicopter, its flight path and the circumstances surrounding the crash were not immediately disclosed,” Oil & Gas Middle East reported. The ministry’s statement stopped at confirming the time, the location, the number of dead, and the nationality of the victims. Saudi authorities have not given a timeline for the investigation’s findings.
SPA’s report said the crash “resulted in the death of all 14 individuals on board, all of whom were Saudi nationals,” and “investigations are underway, with the participation of relevant authorities, to determine the causes of the helicopter crash,” per the Jerusalem Post. The cause, the helicopter type, and the work the crew were doing at the terminal all remain undisclosed. Saudi Aramco has not commented publicly on the crash beyond the SPA-carried ministry statement.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened in the Saudi Aramco helicopter crash?
A helicopter operated by Saudi Aramco crashed at the company’s Ras Tanura terminal on Sunday, June 28, 2026, at approximately 6 a.m. local time. All those on board, all Saudi nationals, were killed, per the Saudi Energy Ministry statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency.
How many people were killed?
All 14 on board died, and all were Saudi nationals per the Saudi Energy Ministry. The ministry’s statement did not detail the work the helicopter was performing at the terminal at the time of the crash, or the flight path. The agency has launched a “full investigation” into the cause, per the SPA.
Where is Ras Tanura?
Ras Tanura is on Saudi Arabia’s eastern Gulf coast, west of the Strait of Hormuz. The site hosts the largest refinery in the Middle East, per the Jerusalem Post, and is one of the world’s most important crude oil export hubs, per Oil & Gas Middle East.
What did the UAE say about the crash?
The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed “solidarity with the brotherly Kingdom of Saudi Arabia” over the crash. The same statement conveyed “sincere condolences and sympathy to the families of the victims, as well as to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and its people.” The message was posted on X via the ministry’s verified @mofauae account on June 28, 2026.
What is the status of the investigation?
The Saudi Energy Ministry has launched a “full investigation” into the cause, but has not disclosed the helicopter type, flight path, or the work the crew were doing at the terminal, per Oil & Gas Middle East. Saudi authorities have not given a timeline for the investigation’s findings.
