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.
“Today, one chapter closes, another opens,” said Prodromos Prodromou, the uncle of a flight attendant who perished aboard the Cypriot airliner, along with 120 other people.
That the crash report was now out in the open would make it easier for the families and friends of the deceased to seek justice, he added.
“Also, it will do away with certain pretexts raised here in Cyprus,” Prodromou added.
He was alluding to claims by the embattled airline that it is a victim of a media witch hunt.
The victims’ relatives will be officially handed the conclusion of the probe today.
They are already suing aircraft manufacturers Boeing in the United States for a series of build omissions they feel contributed to the crash.
“Now the committee of inquiry can go ahead and work in earnest in finding the culpable,” noted Nicolas Yiasoumis, spokesman for the relatives’ committee.
A committee under ex Supreme Court judge Panayiotis Kallis is tasked with apportioning liability for the disaster.
For their part, Helios Airways, now ajet, welcomed the report but refrained from further comment.
“We shall study it closely… we shall be making announcements at a later time, after consulting with our legal advisors,” Christos Neocleous, an attorney for the company, said.
He declined to comment on the fact the report pointed to a lack of a safety culture in Helios.
Meanwhile Transport Minister Harris Thrasou chose to speak in generalities, saying that blame would be dished out “wherever appropriate.” This could include international aviation authorities, which, according to the crash report, did not update their safety standards in time.
Thrasou himself was recently caught in the eye of the storm after revelations that Civil Aviation – for which he is responsible – was cutting corners and not implementing EU air safety recommendations.
Last month the relatives’ victims mobbed the minister’s car outside Parliament, striking the doors and windows with angry calls for his resignation.
