New Luton scare delays planes in Larnaca
HELIOS AIRWAYS said yesterday it was sending its two Boeing 737-800s to Sweden for checks next week to ease public concern.
“The company is not grounding its fleet. It will continue flying but we thought it was better to do this to help restore people’s confidence and to stop any rumours and scaremongering,” Helios spokeswoman Vicky Xitas told the Cyprus Mail last night.
The move came hours after a Helios flight from Cyprus to Luton airport was diverted to Stansted because the pilot reported a problem with the aircraft’s flaps.
“It was not an emergency landing, it’s what’s called a ‘local standby’,” an airport spokesman said, adding that the plane had landed safely.
Xitas said the first of its two remaining Boeings would be flown to Sweden on Sunday where it will undergo a two-day check under the supervision of Boeing experts. It will remain in service until then.
In the meantime the company will charter a plane to fill the gap. Xitas said the second Boeing would be sent to Sweden when the first returns to service, probably on Tuesday. Helios’ third remaining aircraft is a leased Airbus and does not carry the company logo.
The new scare came yesterday morning, only five days after the crash in Greece killed 121 passengers and crew.
The incident was not considered an emergency landing, but “an abnormal situation” in which caution was exercised since the weather at Luton was also reported to be bad.
The flight ZU400 left Larnaca airport at around 7.15am and was due to land at Luton at around 10am. It eventually landed safely at Stansted at 10.35am where all 177 passengers were taken by coach back to Luton.
Stansted Airport said: “The pilot thought he had a flaps problem but the aircraft landed all right.”
Last Saturday – the day before the crash in Greece – a Helios Boeing 737 captain also radioed citing a problem with the plane’s flaps but the craft landed safely at Birmingham airport.
A Helios spokeswoman in London said yesterday: “The pilot reported a technical problem and the weather was very bad at Luton and Stansted has a much longer runway so it was decided to divert there.
“Helios has chartered another plane while checks are made of the aircraft at Stansted.” In both the Birmingham incident and yesterday’s Stansted incident, the airports were put on “a local standby” – a lower level of alert than a full emergency in which just the airport fire service is in attendance.
In London passengers on the flight spoke of their anxiety as a result of the incident. Christina Hamshaw, from Lincolnshire, said: “How could we not be scared? We were not terrified because we were reassured by the pilot.”
Her daughter Sonia added: “We were not afraid because the pilot said it wasn’t anything serious, nothing could go wrong with it. Some passengers were anxious but that’s only fair.” Flaps are special retractable panels on aircraft wings which increase aerodynamic lift. When extended they assist take off and landing.
Back in Larnaca British passengers that were due to fly to Heathrow found their flight delayed by over three hours. Few knew that there had been a problem at the other end. The Helios check-in desks had a board telling passengers that the flight was delayed due to late arrival of aircraft and operational reasons.
Michael, a 23-year-old electrician from London said he heard there was a plane coming from Israel to take them to Luton, not Heathrow. “Of course I feel nervous. I’m going to get some sleeping pills. What’s really nerve-wracking is knowing the people who died last Sunday were queuing in this very same place. The other passengers I’ve seen have a look in their faces like they don’t know what’s happening.”
But his girlfriend’s mother said: “I’m not nervous because they’re are going to be much more careful. They’ll be checking their flights more than anyone.”
Two British-born Muslims were concerned to discover that they would be flying on an aircraft leased by Helios from an Israeli company, Alki, instead of the scheduled Helios plane. “Helios said the reason for the delay was there was a strike on at Heathrow,” Majad Hussain, a 29-year-old businessman from, London, said. “If it’s an Israeli plane they obviously got it at a sh-t cheap price.”
His colleague, Amer Ijaz, 31, also from London added: “I’m worried about travelling on an Israeli plane in the current international climate. For us British-born Muslims, it’s quite concerning. Israelis are world-wide targets.”
Hussain said they had arrived in Cyprus early last Monday, only hours after the Greek crash. There was a “bad atmosphere” on the plane because some of the crew knew colleagues on the crashed plane, he said.
“Half an hour from landing the flight went into a nose-dive, the seat belt signs were off and everyone was panicking,” Hussain said.
Peter Souvertjis, a 28-year-old Australian who was about to board a 6.30pm flight to Gatwick took the view that lightning does not strike twice in the same place. “I’m absolutely not worried,” he said. “It doesn’t really happen again, does it? I’m not at all nervous.”
