Funeral for trainee helicopter pilot

Andreas Papasozomenos, the Cypriot officer killed in Wednesday’s Mi-35 helicopter crash in a field off the Limassol-Paphos highway, was buried yesterday at a full military funeral at the new Astromeritis cemetery after a 4pm funeral service at the church of Agios Afxiviou. The Morphou bishop conducted the service, which was attended by the Defence Minister, the head of the National Guard, a number of MPs and most Astromeritis residents. Also killed in the crash was 43-year-old Russian flight instructor Group Captain Yuri Oleynik.

The crash’s cause has not yet been established but it is hoped that the recovered black box, which records flight data, will be in good enough shape to provide investigators with some insight. The transport of the helicopter remains to the Andreas Papandreou Air Base, which was expected to take place yesterday, has been postponed for another 24 hours. All onsite examinations have been complete and investigators are not waiting for the results of lab analyses

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.