Steward’s last words before Helios crash

MAYDAY, Mayday, said the voice of the 25-year-old steward moments before the plane plunged into a mountain ravine.

With fuel reserves almost gone and the plane almost 60 kilometres from Athens Airport, Helios Airways steward Andreas Prodromou had only 15 minutes to save the plane that crashed into a mountainside near Grammatikos, killing all 121 passengers and crew members on board flight ZU 522 last Sunday.

This is what emerged from preliminary findings in the investigation announced yesterday by the head of the accident investigation committee, Akrivos Tsolakis, who said Prodromou had attempted to land the plane but failed when lack of fuel forced the plane to crash into a mountain top just north of Athens.

Prodromou had entered the cockpit at 11.50am and attempted to take control of the aircraft. His efforts failed when at around midday the plane ran out of fuel. Five minutes later, the plane crashed.

When Prodromou took control of the plane, he disengaged the autopilot by taking control of the steering. He then descended the plane to around 7,000 feet but when attempting to lift the aircraft as it approached the hills of Grammatikos, the plane ran out of the fuel and crashed nose-up into the mountainside.

According to the cockpit voice recorder and black box recordings, during his short flight, Prodromou had called out “Mayday, mayday” while heavy breathing could also be heard, a sign that the 25-year-old was in major distress in his effort to fly the plane. Prodromou was also reported as saying “Voithia” (help) several times.

The black box also showed no indication that anybody else was conscious in the cockpit, as no other voice was recorded.

Prodromou was a trainee pilot, but was working as a steward until he could afford the money to complete his training in flying larger planes.

Along with another 10 apprentice pilots, he had applied for the position of co-pilot at Helios and his application was being examined by airline officials. He also had a PPL (Private Pilot Licence) and was currently studying for a CLP (Commercial Licence Pilot) when he was killed.

According to friends and relatives, Prodromou was close to saving the £25,000 needed to complete his CLP training course.

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