THE Helios Boeing, which crashed near Athens last Sunday killing all 121 on board had lost cabin pressure and ran out of fuel, a preliminary report said yesterday.
And an exhausted-sounding man, thought to be flight-attendant Andreas Prodromou, tried to send a last-minute distress call, which never got out, the report said.
Helios flight ZU522 to Prague, with a stopover in Athens, crashed at around midday near the village of Grammatiko, some 40 kilometres north of Athens.
The findings, presented to Greek Transport Minister Michalis Liapis by the head of the investigation Akrivos Tsolakis, said there were indications the Boeing 737-300’s pilots had been incapacitated and that a third man had attempted to fly the aircraft.
“There are indications of a technical anomaly in the aircraft’s pressurisation system,” Tsolakis said in a letter to the minister.
He added: “If this happened, then it would affect the physical condition of the passengers and crew.”
Tsolakis said there was proof that the aircraft’s two engines had stopped working because the fuel supply was exhausted.
“And that is the final cause of the crash,” he said.
The head of the investigation said the experts had indications that the plane’s radio receiver had been functioning during the flight’s final 30 minutes.
The cockpit voice recorder had recorded communications from other aircraft, which were under scrutiny, Tsolakis said.
“We are examining whether the radio was still on the Nicosia frequency,” he said.
The report, based on testimonies from two F-16 pilots scrambled to intercept the Boeing after it had failed to respond to repeated calls from Greek air-traffic controllers, suggested that a man, wearing an oxygen mask, was seated in the pilot’s seat.
The same man, thought to be Prodromou, a light-aircraft pilot, twice tried to issue a distress call, “Mayday, Mayday”, which was never heard as the radio was apparently set on the wrong frequency.
“The tone of his voice suggested the person was a man who was exhausted or suffering,” Tsolakis said.
Bloodstains found in the remains of the cockpit have been matched to Prodromou.
Tsolakis said the investigators were waiting for the toxicological test results, in the hope of identifying the agent, which incapacitated the passengers and crew.
Carbon monoxide has already been ruled out after tests on six bodies were negative.
Speaking to Flight International, Tsolakis said the flight crew’s unconsciousness was thought to be related to malfunctioning of the Boeing’s air conditioning and pressurisation systems.
“Tsolakis says he is worried at what he is finding in the engineering records of the aircraft, which had required air conditioning system rectification five times in less than two months, leading Helios engineers to question the aircraft’s fitness to fly,” Flight International said.
Meanwhile coroners in Athens have completed the autopsies on the bodies of the passengers and efforts are under way to identify them through DNA.
Twenty-seven bodies were expected to be flown back to Cyprus last night.
Three bodies are still missing. It is believed that the body of the German captain is among them.
