A TEAM of Greek experts investigating the Helios Airways crash in Greece, which killed all 121 on board, yesterday started interviewing people in Cyprus linked to the August 14 tragedy.
The head of the Greek air-accident investigation committee, Akrivos Tsolakis, and his team are based at the Golden Bay hotel in Larnaca, the place where the interviews are being conducted.
The Greek investigators are expected to finish their work on the island by Friday, though they did not rule out extending their stay if necessary.
The committee expects to hear depositions from civil aviation officials and Helios employees.
Among those who testified yesterday were the head of the Cypriot acceident investigation committee Costas Orfanos and the two air-traffic controllers on duty on the day flight ZU-522 crashed near Grammatikos, a village around 40km north of Athens.
The man who blew the whistle on the inadequacies of the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) also testified before the committee yesterday.
The head of the DCA licensing department, Charalambos Hadjigeorgiou, stunned the country last week when he went public with allegations of serious shortcomings at the DCA.
A knee-jerk attempt by Communications Minister Harris Thrasou to discredit Hadjigeorgiou failed, as the senior official produced a series of documents to back his claims.
After that, the committee interviewed the acting head of the DCA, Iakovos Demetriou, who was heavily criticised for ‘disappearing’ the wake of the accident and only showing up last week by Thrasou’s side the minister’s new conference to refute Hadjigeorgiou’s claims.
The department’s two British advisers were also questioned. They are members of the British CAA, whose role in harmonising the DCA with European standards has been repeatedly disputed by Hadjigeorgiou.
The Greek experts also heard from three controllers working at the area control centre in Nicosia.
Helios engineers and other employees are expected to be interviewed today.
Speaking after a meting with the minister earlier yesterday, Tsolakis declined to answer any questions concerning the investigation.
“It would only do damage if even a detail about the thinking we follow to get where we want is revealed,” Tsolakis said.
He added: “I know what it means to lose someone close; I lost my son last summer.
“I cannot get over it and I know how painful it is for one to lose someone so close,” the Greek investigator said.
He stressed that everything necessary would be done to do justice to the memory of those who had been lost.
Thrasou said he had been briefed by Tsolakis on the progress of the investigation, adding that all the ministry’s departments were at the disposal of the investigators.
Concerning the criticism he and the DCA have been receiving, Thrasou said the accusations should be investigated thoroughly and no one would be condemned before proved guilty.
The minister noted that the investigation would come up with the causes of the accident and those responsible would be sought.
Tsolakis, accompanied by Thrasou, visited President Tassos Papadopoulos, who was briefed on the progress of the investigation.
