HELIOS Airways 9am flight ZU522 from Larnaca to Prague via Athens crashed just after midday yesterday in a hill 40km north of the Greek capital, killing all 115 passengers and six crew, mostly Cypriots.
The cause of the Boeing 737 crash was not immediately known and Cypriot authorities were tight-lipped, but pilots from two Greek F16s that had been sent up to check on the plane after it lost contact air traffic control and was observed flying erratically, said they saw one of the Helios pilots slumped over the control panel.
One Greek passenger managed to send two text messages to his cousin saying: “The pilot has turned blue” and “Cousin farewell, we’re freezing.”
The plane crashed shortly afterwards in mountains near Marathon and burst into flames. Only the tail section, bearing the Helios logo, was recognisable among the debris. Some of the dead passengers were said to have been found still wearing oxygen masks.
Greek police said 35 fire trucks, eight fire-fighting planes and three helicopters were at the scene, along with 105 special rescue operations officers.
Akrivos Tsolaki, head of the Greek accident investigation committee, told reporters at the crash site the plane’s two black boxes – voice and data recorders – had been located.
“We have no information about any survivors,” Communications and Works Minister Haris Thrasou told a news conference at Larnaca airport. He said that from the 115 passengers on board 67, believed to include eight children, were due to disembark in Athens, while the remaining 26 adults and two children were to continue to Prague.
“Most of the passengers were Cypriot,” said Thrasou. “Unfortunately the condition of the bodies is in such a state that it will be impossible to identify them and further DNA tests will have to be carried out.”
Initial reports that 48 of the passengers were children could not be confirmed, as passenger lists, which were not released to the public, contained only surnames and first initials.
Thrasou dismissed reports on Greek television that the bodies were frozen or yellow, indicating that the passengers may have died on board the plane before it crashed. He also said he could not confirm greek television reports that the Greek F16 pilots had seen a third person in the cockpit, which had given rise to speculation that the plane might have been hijacked. “There is no evidence that this was a terrorist attack,” said Thrasou. He said that whatever had happened on the plane had already happened by the time the Greek F16 pilots had checked on it. “The pilots were dead and a short time later the plane crashed,” he said. “It looks as if the passengers on board the flight were already dead before the aircraft crashed and burst into flames, near Marathon.”
Greek TV station Alpha said the pilot told air traffic controllers the Boeing 737 was experiencing air conditioning problems before communication with the plane was lost some 20 minutes out of Larnaca.
It appeared to have been flying on automatic pilot for an unknown period before entering Greek airspace where it was intercepted by the F-16s. Reports said the indications were that the plane suffered a loss of cabin pressure due to a possible malfunction in the plane’s pressurisation system.
Thrasou said, however, that the plane had been given a clean bill of health before leaving Larnaca, despite reports the same plane had had problems in the past.
Helios General Manager Demetris Pantazis added: “We cannot say the plane has the same problem before because we don’t know what the problem is yet,” he told reporters at Larnaca. “Our thoughts are with the relatives of the passengers and crew. We express our sadness and our deepest condolences.”
A similar statement was made by President Tassos Papadopoulos, who cut short his holiday in Protaras. “I express my deepest sorrow and grief for the loss of lives of our compatriots and on behalf of the government I express deepest sympathy to all the relatives. We are standing by them and offering our support,” he said in a message.
Thrasou said Civil Aviation had mobilised all services to help deal with the situation and the ministries of Health, Labour and Public Order have all contributed to the effort. Health Minster Andreas Gavrielides was travelling to Greece with a team, and the government is laying on a special flight for the relatives to travel to Athens today.
