A GREEK investigation into the Helios air disaster that claimed 121 lives may be coming to the island by the end of the month, as Cypriot detectives head abroad to gather more depositions.
According to daily Phileleftheros, the Cypriot investigative team is currently in London to interview Boeing mechanic Alan Irwin, considered a key figure in the events of August 14, 2005.
Irwin, the airline’s chief mechanic at the time, was in charge of the last pressure check on the doomed Boeing 737-300 before takeoff.
He had also given a deposition to police in the wake of the accident.
Two criminal probes are running in tandem, one here, the other in Greece, where the jet crashed.
For practical reasons, and following a request by the Cypriot victims’ relatives, a team of Greek investigators could be arriving in Cyprus within the month.
Nicolas Yiasoumis, a spokesman for the relatives, told the Mail yesterday that this should clear up in the next few days.
Last October, an Athens public prosecutor launched criminal proceedings into the accident.
The proceedings involve “voluntary manslaughter with probable malice against any and all involved parties” – a legalistic term designating gross negligence leading to death.
The Athens prosecutor has already taken depositions from the Greek relatives of the victims.
Six of the 121 people who perished aboard the fated jet were Greek nationals on their way back from holidays on the island.
In Cyprus, the victims’ relatives are gearing up to take their civil suit against Boeing to Greece, after an Illinois District Court ruled that the case could not be heard in the United States.
The relatives are seeking compensation for product liability, negligence, and breach of warranty.
They hold Boeing responsible for a string of build and design omissions on the 737-300 that they believe contributed to the calamity.
Yiasoumis told the Mail that lawyers representing separate groups of relatives were in negotiations with Boeing and the airline for an out-of-court settlement.
Assuming no settlement is reached, he said, the relatives must file a suit by August 13 – exactly two years after the accident.
