FRIENDS AND relatives of those who died in the Helios air crash yesterday mourned their loved ones, three years after the worst aviation disaster in Cyprus history.
Yesterday morning, groups of relatives, dressed in black and holding flowers, wreaths and photographs of their loved ones, visited the Ayios Giorgios church at Grammatikos in memory to all those who were lost exactly three years ago. Friends and relatives that couldn’t travel to Greece attended a ceremony at the Panayias Eleftherotrias church in Mosfiloti.
On August 14, 2005 Cypriot airline Helios Airways flew unpiloted for just under three hours and crashed in the hilly area of Grammatikos just north of Athens.
The crash claimed 121 passengers and crew members, mostly Cypriot families going on holiday, in an accident considered one of the worst in European aviation history.
“Three years and we are here standing at the same place, an area which is basically a large open grave for 121 of our own people, to pay our respects to those who were lost in such a way,” Head of the Helios Victims Relatives Committee Nicolas Yiasoumis said yesterday.
But amid the anguish and the sorrow, the families still expressed their anger as they claim that those responsible for the tragedy have not yet been brought to justice.
“We are still waiting to see what will happen,” Yiasoumis said. “Our hope is that the Legal Services will bring those responsible for the murder of 121 people to justice. Throughout the investigation a lot has been said and documented and we believe the people to blame have to come to justice.”
Communications Minister Nicos Nicolaides said that the state supported the relatives of the victims in whatever way they could and shared their pain.
“The memories are still fresh, the wounds are also fresh, especially for the close relatives of those who tragically lost their loved ones, for which the only thing that we can do is share their pain and give them courage to continue their Golgotha,” he told reporters. “The demand for justice is stronger than ever and this does not come just from the part of the relatives but from the whole of Cypriot society.”
In the three years since the crash, a lot has been said about the way Legal Services in Cyprus have dealt with the legal proceedings into the aviation disaster. Some relatives living in Greece have launched suits in Greek courts against former airline Helios and plane manufacturers Boeing. Only two weeks ago, reports emerged of Greek authorities filing charges ranging from murder to negligence against six former Helios Airways officials. Earlier this week, the Attorney-general Petros Clerides said that by next month they would have a clearer picture regarding the recent 300 page long police investigation into the Helios flight that killed 121 people.
Clerides maintained yesterday that the delay of the Cypriot Legal Services to reach a verdict on the case that they hope will apportion blame and allow them to seek legal redress in civil courts did not amount to a cover-up.
“It has been three years because it is a very hard case. We have experienced many difficulties and have had many statements. We are now studying the investigative report from the police as well as the Tsolakis and Kallis reports. Where there is blame to be had, rest assured it will be dealt with,” he said.
Costas Orfanos, Head of the Cypriot Air-Accident Investigation Committee, said yesterday that this disaster was a reminder to all that there should be no compromise on flight safety.
“A lot has been done since Grammatikos and in the last month there have been more improvements. The lessons of the past show us that we should all work together in order to stop something like this from happening again,” he said yesterday.
