Expert plays Helios warning sound to court

THE NICOSIA criminal court yesterday heard the warning sounds emitted in the cockpit of a Boeing 737 as part of the ongoing trial of the August 2005 Helios airline crash that killed all 121 on board.

Greek avionics expert Theofanis Karathanasis played various warning sounds like the intermittent warning horn activated in two different situations: on the ground it indicates that something is wrong with the aircraft’s pre-takeoff configuration, while in the air it means a loss of cabin pressure, which can cause pilots to lose consciousness if they do not put on oxygen masks immediately.

He also played a clacker sound, emitted when the aircraft goes over the speed limit and the wailer horn – the autopilot disengage warning system.

The court also heard the 20-second chime that sounds when someone wants to enter the cockpit and various other alerts that are pertinent to the case.

The prosecution’s angle is that the accident was caused by mistakes or omissions made by German Captain Hans-Jurgen Merten and his co-pilot Pambos Charalambous and that they were unfit to fly, making Helios responsible for allowing them to do so.

The defendants, Andreas Drakos, chairman of the board of Helios, Demetris Pantazis, chief executive officer, Lanko Stoimenov, (former) chief pilot, Giorgos Kikidis, operations manager; and Helios Airways as a legal entity face 1,190 charges – 238 each – of manslaughter and causing the death of 119 people through a reckless act.

Manslaughter carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. They have all pleaded not guilty.

The defence started its cross examination just before the court adjourned yesterday trying to put a dent in Karathanasis’ testimony as an expert.

The cross examination will resume today.

Less than a handful of relatives of those killed in the crash at Grammatiko, Greece were present during the proceedings yesterday.

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