plane with 121 on board crashes in Greece :(

[bernhard]

Originally Posted by wikinews

August 14, 2005

A Helios airliner (Boeing 737, flight HCY 522) with 115 passengers and 6 crew onboard has crashed into a mountain at 09:04 UTC (12:04 p.m. EEST) near Grammatiko, 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Athens, while approaching the capital's airport. Apparently, all on board perished. The plane was travelling from Larnaca, in the southeast of Cyprus and scheduled to arrive in Prague after a stop in Athens.



In-flight events

Immediately after take-off, the pilots reported a problem with the air conditioning system of the aircraft. Later, a passenger sent a text message that it had become extremely cold in the cabin and that people were freezing to death. The message read: "The pilot has turned blue [in the face]. Cousin farewell we're freezing."

After communication was lost with ground control twenty minutes after take-off, the aircraft was joined by two Greek F-16 military aircraft until it crashed. The pilots of the F-16s noted that one airliner pilot appeared to be unconscious and the other was not in the cockpit.

During a second sighting, two persons had been seen in the cockpit trying to gain control of the aircraft, but the F-16 pilots could not clarify if these persons were members of the crew.


Possible malfunctions and causes

The Greek F-16 pilot's saw at least one of the aircraft's pilots may have become unconscious before the crash, causing control of the plane to be lost. The emergency oxygen masks were also have reported to have dropped.

It is speculated that the air-supply system of the aircraft may have failed, causing a sudden decompression of air within the cockpit. This malfunction also causes a steep drop in air temperature. A similar decompression occured onboard Payne Stewart's Learjet in 1999, which crashed with no survivors.

Greek media reports that the crashed plane had several problems with it's oxygen supply or pressurization system and that the airline ignored those malfunctions.


Passengers

A precise passenger list is currently being compiled by officials in Cyprus. Of the 115 passengers, 48 were children, many of whom were returning from a holiday. Czech Prime Minister Jiří Paroubek has said that there were also some Czech citizens on the flight. Details on the passengers continue to develop and emerge throughout the day. Four 'foreigners' (non-Greeks) are amongst the passenger list according to CNA.


Post-crash

After the crash, a fire started around the airliner. It was quickly extinguished by firefighters. The fire burned most of the bodies that are now being collected by special firefighter units and transfered to the city of Shisto, near Athens. Meanwhile, the two F-16 pilots were transfered to Ministry of Defense to give their report.

Both "black boxes" - the flight data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder - have been recovered.


Reaction from Helios Airways

The relatives of the victims have been informed, however the company is critised for failing to release the passenger list quickly.

Helios Airways released a statement on their website today, stating, "Our thoughts are with the families of those on board at this difficult time."

An emergency telephone number has been setup in Nicosia, Cyprus. It can be contacted at 70003737, 22 – 446146.


Official Reactions

The Cypriot government has declared three days of national mourning and ordered flags to be lowered on half-mast.