THE HARROWING eyewitness reports of the crash of a Cypriot airliner in Greece yesterday left the country reeling in shock.
The Helios Airways flight ZU 522 heading from Larnaca to Prague via Athens International Airport crashed 40km north of Athens near the coastal town of Grammatiko at around 12pm yesterday, leaving no survivors. The plane landed in an uninhabited mountain area, covered with trees.
The Boeing 737 plane was carrying 115 passengers and six crew. No one was injured on the ground.
While relatives struggled to come to terms with the horrific event, the authorities prepared for the difficult task of identifying the charred and dismembered bodies, most believed to be Cypriot.
Witnesses at the scene of the crash described the carnage on the ground.
“There is wreckage everywhere. I am here, things here are very difficult, they are indescribable,” Grammatiko mayor George Papageorgiou, said.
“I am looking at the back tail. The fuselage has been destroyed. It fell into a chasm and there are pieces. All the residents are here trying to help,” he added.
The head of the Greek airline safety committee Akrivos Tsolakis described it as the “worst accident we’ve ever head”. He speculated that there might have been a problem with the cabin pressure.
“There apparently was a lack of oxygen, which is usually the case when the cabin is de-pressurised,” Tsolakis said.
“The plane crashed around 400 yards from homes in the area,” said Miltiadis Merkouris, a spokesman for the Grammatiko municipality.
The causes of the crash are as yet unknown though Greek newscasters speculated that a problem with cabin pressure or the air conditioning system killed the crew and passengers before it crashed into the Greek mountains.
Television footage showed parts of the plane scattered across the harsh terrain. Tiny pieces were everywhere. Rescue services were on the scene immediately, providing fire engines, ambulances, army medical staff and rescue helicopters and planes that worked four hours to drop water on the fire that enveloped the sky in dense black smoke.
Witnesses described the scenes as freakish. Bits of human flesh, clothing and luggage were scattered around the wreckage, while brush fires spread in several areas.
Hours later, witnesses described the macabre pictures of the 30 ambulances lining up to collect the scorched bodies to be taken for identification.
“Many personal items were found, the diary of a child, photographs, it’s tragic,” said Marathon resident Yiannis Kyriacos, first on the scene.
The tail section of the jet was the only part of the plane left in tact, the rest of the debris was strewn in the chasm and surrounding hills.
“I saw many bodies scattered around, all of them wearing (oxygen) masks. The tail was cut off and the remaining parts of the plane rolled down a hillside about 500 metres away from the tail,” one witness told Reuters.
Two F-16 fighter jets were scrambled shortly after the plane entered Greek air space over the Aegean Sea and failed to respond to radio calls. It is standard Greek air force procedure to intercept any aircraft entering the country’s airspace that do not respond to radio calls.
The F-16 pilots said they could not see the captain in the cockpit, while his co-pilot appeared to be slumped in his seat. Reports said they later saw two unidentified people trying to steer the plane moments before it fell.
“I saw the plane coming. I knew it was serious or that it was some kind of VIP because I saw the two fighter jets,” said witness Dimitris Karezas, who owns a summer camp in the area. “Two, three minutes later I heard a big bang”
Another eyewitness told Alpha Television that he ran to the scene immediately looking for survivors but found none. He said all victims were found tied in their seats, their bodies yellow and burning. “They were yellow, wearing masks, no one was alive,” he said.
Greek civil aviation official, Spyros Zagaris called on relatives not to visit the site, stating that it would do no good since the bodies were not in a state to be recognised.
Helios Airways spokesman Georgios Demetriou told reporters from Athens airport that 48 children were on the flight, but the report remained unconfirmed by last night. Meanwhile, the Greek government expressed its deepest sorrow to the Cypriot people and the relatives of the victims.
Authorities first set up a centre for relatives at a high school in Marathon with 15 psychologists there, but later transferred people to the Sofitel Hotel near Athens Airport, which was transformed into an information centre. Psychologists and social workers are on hand to help the arriving relatives.
The Cyprus government chartered a flight to Athens for relatives of the victims, due to leave Larnaca at 9am today.
Greek Government Spokesman Theodoros Rousopoulos said in Athens that state emergency services, including members of the armed forces, the ministries of interior, transport, public order, shipping and health, responded quickly to calls following the crash.
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis interrupted his holiday in Tinos as soon as news of the crash surfaced, calling an emergency meeting in Athens
Rousopoulos confirmed that the two black boxes had been found. He said nothing suggested the crash was the result of a terrorist attack.
Cyprus Government Spokesman Kypros Chrysostomides interrupted his holidays in Greece and headed to Athens for contacts with the Greek government.
The Cyprus embassy in Athens began operating a crisis team to deal with the aftermath.
Health Minister Andreas Gavrielides was also due to leave for Athens yesterday afternoon.
The authorities and relatives are now left with the daunting task of identifying the bodies.
A 10-member team of police and medical officers left Cyprus yesterday for Athens. Police were taking DNA swabs of relatives.
NUMBERS TO CALL:
Helios numbers: 70003737, 22-446146.
Numbers to call in Greece, 0030 210-3530900, 0030 210 724 0500 and 0030 697 727 2724.
Crisis team at Cyprus Foreign Ministry: 22-401169.
TIMELINE
9.07am: take off.
Contact lost soon before plane entered Greek air space.
Just after 10am, Greek ministries of defence, interior, transport, public order, navy, and health mobilised.
10.14: Greek air force ordered to scramble two F-16s. They try to make contact with crew after 11am but find no captain in cockpit and co-pilot passed out. Two people were seen trying to fly plane.
Between 12.04 and 12.20: Plane crashes.
It is believed the plane was on autopilot for some time while reports also suggested the plane was going in circles. The plane eventually crashed three hours after take off, reportedly after emptying its fuel tank.
