PILOT error and, to a lesser degree, slack safety standards from Helios Airways were what caused a Being 737 jet to crash into a ravine outside Athens last August, killing all 121 people on board.
That is the verdict of the Greek air-accident investigating team under Akrivos Tsolakis, who yesterday handed the report to officials in Cyprus and in Greece.
Sir,
I read your article last week about the Lakatamia cancer report.
I hope every possible cause of the rise in prostate cancers etc. in the area will be investigated.
Sir,
I know others will be as disappointed as I am to hear that the contents of recycling bins in Nicosia are, in fact, not being recycled (‘Bins of shame’, Sunday Mail, October 8).
ON 14 AUGUST 2005, a Boeing 737-300 aircraft, registration number 5B-DBY, operated by Helios Airways, departed Larnaca, Cyprus at 09:07h for Prague, Czech Republic, via Athens, Greece.
RELATIVES of the Helios crash victims were yesterday guardedly optimistic that the release of the final report into the causes of the crash would finally set in motion events to bring to justice all those responsible for the tragedy.
THE NEW Nicosia General Hospital’s Emergency Room came into operation at midnight yesterday, while during the day, the cardiology, surgery and pathology departments were transferred from the old building.
AJET, formerly Helios Airways, yesterday refused to confirm or deny reports that it was moving its base of operation to Britain.
The reports came on the same day that the official conclusions of the report into the August 2005 crash that killed 121 passengers and crew were handed over to the government by Greek investigators.
UNIONS representing workers on the Limassol flyovers yesterday extended their strike to all constructions by Joannou and Paraskevaides Ltd, affecting works in Nicosia and the rest of Limassol, while today they are expected to strike in Akrotiri too.
THE NICOSIA Central Prisons remain overcrowded, but the situation is slowly but gradually changing for the better, the House Human Rights Committee heard yesterday.
Permanent Secretary of the Justice Ministry Andys Tryfonides and Central Prison Governor Michalis Hadjidemetriou told deputies the prison currently had 601 inmates, almost double its capacity of 340.
BELEAGUED Euro MEP Marios Matsakis has had one of two corruption charges against him dropped after intervention from the Attorney-general.
Matsakis’ parliamentary immunity had been lifted for the trial but it has been ruled that the court procedure is not allowed to interfere with his parliamentary duties in Brussels and Strasbourg.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
