GREEK investigators into the Helios crash that killed 121 people were last night in Britain interviewing the British engineer who signed off the doomed Boeing 737 on August 14.
Chief investigator Akrivos Tsolakis and another Greek aviation expert travelled to London on Sunday to interview Alan Irwin and Malcom Fowler, a second engineer who had worked on the plane.
According to The Sunday Times, Irwin, who refuses to come to Cyprus because he fears for his safety, is insisting that the Helios plane, which crashed north of Athens, was airworthy.
Both Irwin and Fowler were employed by Helios on short-term contracts, the Sunday Times said. Their testimony will be crucial to the investigation, following reports that a switch used to control cabin pressure was left in the wrong position after their safety check.
On the day of the crash, the flight’s two pilots, one German and one Cypriot, apparently did not notice that the switch was in the wrong place and did not realise when the cabin pressure failed. Pilots are required to make their own final checks before each flight.
Failure to notice the switch was in the wrong position would have rendered them unconscious before they realised the cabin was not properly pressurised.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Irwin said: “The engineers have nothing to hide, they have no worries. The (Helios) aircraft that were out there… were absolutely first-class, very good aeroplanes.”
Asked if he had encountered any previous problems with the airline’s fleet, Irwin, 44, said: “No, nothing abnormal to an aircraft operation.”
He refused to discuss details of the safety check carried out with Fowler and a Cypriot mechanic on the morning of the tragedy, the paper said.
However, it added, a leaked technical report handed to police after the crash revealed that the plane was inspected because crew on its previous flight – from Heathrow to Larnaca – reported problems with a rear door.
The report said the engineers had checked the pressure system by turning a knob on the flight deck from automatic to manual. “A pressure run was carried out, Irwin in flight deck, Fowler at the rear cabin and Michaelides (the Cypriot mechanic) as safety man.”
If the investigation concludes the engineers were at fault they could face criminal charges and up to five yeas in jail for negligence leading to death.
It is known that Irwin conversed with German pilot Hans-Jeurgen Merten soon after take-off, but there was some confusion between the flight deck and the engineers on the ground, and minutes later it would have been too late as those aboard the plane would have been rendered unconscious.
“Merten is thought to have collapsed, as he left his seat to find a circuit breaker to disengage the alarm. All communications with the flight deck were lost around this time,” The Sunday Times said.
Irwin, who started work at Helios in April, is thought to be the last person to have spoken to the flight crew. He denies leaving Cyprus for “safety reasons” and said he intended to resume his position with Helios in the near future.
However, a senior crash investigation source claimed the engineer had written to Helios, saying: “I’m afraid to come to Cyprus.”
Tsolakis was last night questioning Irwin and Fowler at the headquarters of Britain’s Air Accident Investigation Branch in Farnborough, Hampshire. “I will go to any place to face these people and get some information from them,” he said. Both engineers are licensed by the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority.
The Sunday Times said Tsolakis may also decide to interview staff at ATC Lasham, the UK-based engineering company which carries out maintenance work for Helios.
ATC Lasham carried out an annual maintenance check on the Boeing in November last year but only four days later the plane reported serious pressurisation problems on a flight from Warsaw. Several passengers had to be taken to hospital and treated for dizziness. The incident is believed to have been caused by a fault on the rear door.
