THERE were memorial ceremonies around the island yesterday in remembrance of the 121 people that perished in the Helios Airways crash in Grammatikos, outside Athens last year.
A special memorial took place at the church in Grammatikos in Greece after relatives travelled to the area accompanied by Bishop Athanasios of Limassol. Wreaths were placed at the site where the Boeing 737 ran out of fuel and crashed on the hillside.
Memorials were also carried out at towns around the island and in particular Paralimni – home of 12 of the victims.
It is believed the crash was caused by a combination of pilot error, decompression problems and a problematic alarm system. Without naming names, Greek Air Accident Investigator Akrivos Tsolakis’ findings are believed to point to negligence and omissions running the spectrum of organisations involved – including the airline in question, the Civil Aviation department, and the flight’s pilots.
The Head of the Helios Victims Relatives’ Committee, Nicolas Yiasoumis, said yesterday that “the relatives are waiting for the Tsolakis report to see who and how many are responsible for the chain of events and the criminal negligence which led so many people to their death.”
He added that justice must be served and that “some people who are responsible for what happened are shaking in their boots and trying to distract everyone’s attention away from what really happened.”
“The report will only look at causes and not who is to blame,” he said.
He called on the public to show patience until early September when the report is set to be publicly released, adding that speculation could give the wrong impression to the public.
Communications Minister Haris Thrasou said yesterday the government was unsatisfied with Helios because of the way in which the airline had handled the immediate aftermath of the crash and its effort to rename the airline from Helios to a-jet.
Thrasou was also critical of the airline’s questioning of the role of two Greek advisors appointed by the government to assist the Chief Investigator of the Cypriot Air Accident Committee Panayiotis Kallis.
Helios officials questioned their involvement after it was revealed that they had assisted Tsolakis in his investigation.
When asked by reporters about the role of a British company hired by the government to assess the quality of the Civil Aviation, Thrasou said a British company was hired to check if aviation officials were doing their duties in accordance with air regulations and that the Tsolakis report would determine if those checks on aviations officials were carried out properly.
In an official statement on Sunday, President Tassos Papadopoulos said investigations into the cause of the tragedy, should be carried out with legality and order, otherwise their findings would not be valid.
