WHAT WAS said during the last moments of contact between ground control and Helios Airways flight ZU 522?
Reports are now suggesting that the pilot appeared to have told ground control that things were OK after initially reporting air condition problems.
In what could be a crucial piece of information in solving what happened on board Helios Airways flight ZU 522, reports are stating that the pilot’s last words before radio contact was lost with the aircraft was “It’s OK”.
According to Politis newspaper, the German pilot, Hans-Juergen Merten, 58, had made contact with the airline’s headquarters in Larnaca, between 9.15am and 9.20am, about nine to ten minutes after take off and reported to them that the aircraft was experiencing difficulties with the air conditioning system. He added that temperatures aboard the aircraft had “risen a lot” and that it was causing discomfort to passengers. He then reported back to headquarters saying “It’s OK”. It was later revealed that those were the last words that were heard by anyone outside of the aircraft.
Two to three minutes before contacting the airline headquarters, Merten had contacted the Nicosia Area Control Centre (ACC) and requested permission to climb to 34,000 feet, something he was granted, with the control tower reporting no signs of problems with the Boeing 737.
Questions are now being raised as to whether the communications were recorded and if he had been instructed to carry on with his course or make an emergency landing either back at Larnaca Airport or at Paphos. At the time, he had first reported problems with the air conditioning system the plane would have been at 10,000 feet over Zygi near Limassol and would have had sufficient time to make an emergency landing.
Airline experts have stated that high temperatures in the cabin could have contributed to a possible fall in oxygen levels, one of many theories as to why the F-16 pilots saw no movement in the cabins and the reason why the co-pilot was slumped over the controls, presumably unconscious.
However, a pilot, who wishes to remain anonymous, told the Cyprus Mail yesterday that, “under normal procedures and if indeed that was the case during the flight, the pilot should have returned the aircraft back to the airport. With temperatures so high, it would have been difficult for the passengers but also for the pilot to fly the aeroplane in such a hot temperature.”
After contact was lost with the aircraft, airline officials at the Larnaca offices began to worry and alerted Nicosia ACC, saying that they had lost contact with flight ZU 522. Politis added, however, that they did not report that the pilot had experienced air conditioning problems, regardless of the fact that his last words were “It’s OK”.
So what could have caused communications to fail? There are four different systems used for communication in the aircraft and experts say that for all four systems to fail simultaneously is almost impossible.
