source
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/09/16/greece.crash.ap/index.html
Friday, September 16, 2005 Posted: 1210 GMT (2010 HKT)
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- One month after Greece's worst air accident, a
conclusive explanation of what caused a Cypriot Helios Airways airliner
to crash killing all 121 people on board still eludes investigators, but
recent reports suggest pilots may have failed to respond to a cabin pressure
warning.
A preliminary report last month said Helios Flight 522 lost cabin pressure
and ran out of fuel before crashing into a hillside near Grammatiko, some
40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Athens, on the sunny and clear morning of
August 14.
It also said there were signs the pilot and co-pilot were incapacitated and
that a third man -- believed to be a flight attendant -- had attempted to
steer the Boeing 737-300.
Investigators are tightlipped about more recent findings. But there are
indications that pilot error is suspected in connection with a cabin pressure
alert.
Chief investigator Akrivos Tsolakis refused to comment on media reports
that engineers may have left a switch controlling cabin pressure in the
wrong position after a safety check. Once the plane became airborne and
pressure dropped, slowly incapacitating the pilots, a warning horn would
normally have gone off.
"That is part of the investigation which I cannot discuss at this point,"
Tsolakis, head of Greece's Air Accident Investigation and Aviation Security
Board, told The Associated Press.
He also declined to discuss whether language problems may have hampered
communication between the airliner's German pilot and Cypriot co-pilot as
the emergency developed.
But Boeing spokeswoman Elizabeth Verdier confirmed to The Associated Press
that Greek authorities asked the company, after the accident, to issue a
special reminder on the warning horn to 737 operators.
That may indicate that investigators suspect Flight 522's aircrew failed to
correctly identify the warning horn, squandering valuable time during which
the plane could have been brought down to a safe altitude where its crew and
passengers could have breathed normally.
As the plane continued to gain altitude, the pilots would eventually have
passed out from lack of oxygen.
Although Boeing intends to update its manual in October, the company duly
sent out the message to specify that when the horn is heard in the air,
pilots must check cabin pressure.
The pilots of two Greek air force F-16 fighters scrambled to intercept the
Helios jet shortly before it crashed reported seeing the co-pilot slumped
over the controls, apparently unconscious, and the pilot not in his seat.
In a second pass, they reported seeing an unidentified man in the cockpit
and oxygen masks dangling in the plane's passenger cabin.
The airliner -- heading from Larnaca, Cyprus, to Athens with 115 Cypriot
and Greek passengers and six crew -- flew on automatic pilot to Athens'
international airport.
After flying over the airport at 34,000 feet (10,400 meters), the automatic
pilot then apparently placed the plane in a circular holding pattern over
the island of Kea after passing over the airport. More than an hour later,
it changed course again shortly before crashing when it ran out of fuel.
Autopsies showed passengers were still alive when the plane struck, but
it is unclear whether they were conscious.
Tsolakis visited Britain earlier in the week to interview two British
flight engineers who inspected the seven-year-old jet before its last
flight, as well as representatives of ATC Lasham LTD, a British company
contracted to carry out the maintenance of Helios' planes. Launched in
1999, the budget airline was Cyprus' first private carrier.
"We may issue a second preliminary report within days," he said. A full
report is expected in about five months.
A senior Cypriot air accident investigation official -- who asked not to
be named because of his close involvement in the probe -- told The AP that
the part of the cockpit containing the pressure switch has been recovered.
But he could not comment on whether the switch was in the correct position.
"You realize that with the speed the plane hit the ground, we cannot be
certain," he said. "We want to be 100 percent sure before pinning the
blame on something."
Relatives of the crash victims are demanding that the Cypriot Cabinet appoint
independent investigators who will apportion blame on those responsible for
the accident -- based on the Greek committee's findings.
"We are waiting with agony," said Nicos Yiasoumis, head of a group formed
by the relatives. "We hope that those responsible will be held accountable
eventually."
Adding to the families' grief, rescuers at the crash site failed to locate
any trace of three of the bodies. In their place, relatives buried ash from
the charred hillside at Grammatiko -- a site Greek authorities have earmarked
for a new landfill.
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