Speculation that someone was trying to fly the aircraft up to its final moment
THE Helios Airways Boeing crashed after running out of fuel according to the aircraft’s flight data recorder (‘black box’), Greek state television reported yesterday.
The plane crashed on Sunday at around 12pm some 40 km north of Athens, killing all 121 people – 115 passengers and six-member crew – on board.
Greek television NET reported yesterday afternoon that the aircraft’s ‘black box’, which had been transferred to France’s Inquiry and Analysis Bureau (BEA), had shown that the 737-300 crashed after it run out of fuel, approximately three hours after it took off from Larnaca for Prague with a stopover in Athens.
But there were still no clues as to why the aircraft apparently flew to Greece on autopilot.
Investigators are examining whether the passengers and crew aboard the flight had fallen unconscious possibly shortly after take-off from Larnaca.
Greek chief investigator Akrivos Tsolakis told The Associated Press (AP) that an air traffic control diagram showed that the plane had flown on autopilot to Athens international airport, but at 34,000 feet above the runway.
It then turned and maintained a holding pattern over the sea east of Athens for more than an hour.
It then turned north and eventually crashed into a mountainside.
“What troubles us is that the automatic pilot was functioning up to a certain point, and then it was disengaged, possibly by human action,” Tsolakis told AP.
He added: “Possibly, there was human intervention. I’m not speaking with certainty, because I don’t have all the evidence yet.”
The pilots of two F-16 fighter jets scrambled after the plane failed to respond to repeated calls from the Athens control tower, reported seeing two people trying to regain control of the aircraft.
It was reported yesterday that the two jets were just minutes from shooting the plane down in order to prevent it from crashing into an inhabited area.
NET reported that according to the ‘black box’, the left engine stopped first at 11.50pm followed by the right one ten minutes later.
This lent further credence to speculation that someone was trying to fly the aircraft up until its final moment.
It is further reinforced from the fact, according to the ‘black box’ recording, that the Boeing hit the ground at a 15-degree angle – on its belly – and skidded for around 300 metres before disintegrating into a ravine.
And it would have taken someone in the cockpit to level the plane especially after one of the engines failed.
Failure of one engine would have caused the plane to bank and it could only be leveled if someone applied the rudder to compensate, a pilot told the Cyprus Mail.
Tsolakis said the investigators had received almost all the necessary information from authorities in Greece, Cyprus, Britain and other European countries regarding Helios and the aircraft’s maintenance record.
At the same time, Cyprus’ Air Accident Investigation Committee yesterday said that the final report on Sunday’s accident would be issued by their Greek counterparts who were solely responsible for the investigation.
However, the head of the committee, Costas Orfanos, said that they were co-operating closely and have provided all the information requested by the Greek investigators.
Speaking after a three-hour meeting with Communications Minister Harris Thrasou, Orfanos warned that the various scenarios floating around only served to mislead the public.
“The committees and experts from various countries should be left alone to use their knowledge, experience, analyses, and documents, and arrive at a conclusion, which will take a long time,” Orfanos said.
He was echoed by Thrasou who suggested that many media reports were not accurate and in many cases negatively affected the country.
The minister said that tourists have refused to board Cypriot plans following reports that no checks were being carried out on the island’s aircraft.
A police investigation into the accident was also set to take a while.
Deputy chief of police Charalambos Koulentis said there was a lot of work to be done — investigators were still taking statements from Helios’ 35 pilots not to mention the rest of the staff.
Officers however are being assisted by experts from the civil aviation department who provide advice on technical issues, Koulentis said.
Police raided the Helios headquarters on Monday night, seizing documents and computer peripherals for examination.
