![]() Greek investigators are due to issue their first report in February, but their findings will not be made public until June, pending recommendations from other investigative agencies and Boeing.Īssociated Press Writer George Psyllides in Larnaca, Cyprus contributed to this report. Helios Airways Flight 522 was a scheduled passenger flight from Larnaca, Cyprus, to Prague, Czech Republic, with a stopover in Athens, Greece. In Monday's re-enactment, special Olympic Airways flight 121 - named in honor of the victims - traced the route of the low-cost Cypriot airline from Larnaca and circled around the Aegean Sea island of Kea as jets followed behind and videotaped the flight. Last month, Tsolakis said he believed "human factors" were "broadly responsible" for the crash, but did not elaborate. The accident was caused by lack of oxygen that incapacitated the crew and passengers, although the airplane kept flying on autopilot. ![]() He said investigators suspected that a switch controlling the pressure had been placed on the wrong setting, but cautioned that this fact alone was not enough to explain the accident. We are still investigating why the pilots continued their ascent and did not respond properly," Tsolakis said. "This (loss of pressure) occurred during the ascent. He said Prodromou, who had some pilot training, opened the cockpit door after entering the security code about 10 to 12 minutes before the crash.Ĭhief investigator Akrivos Tsolakis said he believed the Cypriot airliner suffered a "partial and not total loss of pressure" and that the flight attendant remained conscious because he found a portable supply of oxygen. Kamoutsis declined to say how investigators know the flight attendant tried to fly the plane. ![]() "He tried to fly the plane manually as best as he could," Kamoutsis said, adding that it was too early to comment on how the automatic pilot was disabled. Senior investigator Serafeim Kamoutsis said 25-year-old Cypriot flight attendant Andreas Prodromou entered the cockpit at least 10 minutes before the crash, while the plane was in a holding pattern and the pilots were unconscious or partially conscious. Investigators Monday carried out a re-enactment of Flight 522 from Larnaca, Cyprus to Athens, to analyze the causes of Greece's worst air disaster. The plane apparently lost cabin pressure, incapacitating the pilots, and eventually ran out of fuel. A flight attendant tried to save a Cypriot airliner that crashed near Athens earlier this year, wrestling with controls for at least 10 minutes before the Helios Airways flight went down, investigators said Monday.Īll 121 people on board were killed when the Boeing 737-300 slammed into a hillside on Aug. ![]()
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