Plane crashes north east of Athens

Avro · Post by **Avro** » 14 Aug 2005, 11:43

I've just heard on the news that a plane apparently from Helios crashed north east from Athens.

There were around 120 pax on board.

No further news yet.

My thoughts are with the victim's families

Chris

Airbus330lover · Post by **Airbus330lover** » 14 Aug 2005, 11:49

Flight Larnaca Athens
Plane lost contact.
Pilot collapsed with illness ??

http://edition.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europ ... index.html

Avro · Post by **Avro** » 14 Aug 2005, 11:50

I just read that as well A330Lover, but I can't believe that the plane crashes because one of the pilots collapses !!! There are two pilots in the cockpit ad one is enough to keep the plane in the air.

There must have been something else.

Chris

Airbus330lover · Post by **Airbus330lover** » 14 Aug 2005, 11:51

Further infos :
L'aéroport avait perdu tout contact avec l'appareil, alors qu'il devait atterrir en fin de matinée. Deux avions militaires envoyés en reconnaissance l'avaient localisé volant au dessus de la presqu'ile d'Eubée. Selon le responsable de la tour de contrôle, ils "ont aperçu les pilotes pliés en deux dans la cabine de pilotage". D'après la télévision nationale grecque, qui fait état de 110 personnes à bord, les pilotes se seraient évanouis peu avant l'accident. L'Etat-major de l'armée grecque n'excluait pas peu après le crash un acte de piraterie.

Let wait and see

Glider · Post by **Glider** » 14 Aug 2005, 11:56

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArtic ... ECE-DC.XML

the reuters article...

Once they start to crash, they don't stop... Hope these tragical events will stop now for a while... My thoughts are with the victims

Glider · Post by **Glider** » 14 Aug 2005, 11:59

Apparently, the reuters article is just the same as the CNN one. So admins, because Avro was first, could you please delete this and previous post?

Thx!

Jense · Post by **Jense** » 14 Aug 2005, 12:04

No Captain to see and the first officer was collapsed on his chair, so said VRT News (Flemish): http://www.vrtnieuws.net/nieuwsnet_mast ... index.html

Comet · Post by **Comet** » 14 Aug 2005, 12:09

Was it a 737? VC10 just came in to tell me of the crash, she had seen it on the UK teletext and she said it was saying on there that the pilot was taken ill.

Zorba · Post by **Zorba** » 14 Aug 2005, 12:13

Helios only flies Boeing 737's

- Boeing 737-300
- Boeing 737-800

LX-LGX · Post by **LX-LGX** » 14 Aug 2005, 12:22

www.flyhelios.com

all news reports can be found on http://news.google.com

ask a search for Cypriot

Zorba · Post by **Zorba** » 14 Aug 2005, 12:29

The plane was 5B-DBY (cn 29099/2982) Boeing 737-31S Helios Airways

This is not good for aviation

LX-LGX · Post by **LX-LGX** » 14 Aug 2005, 12:29

CNN has just mentionned it as Breaking News,

and they will report again only when more facts are known.

Comet · Post by **Comet** » 14 Aug 2005, 12:30

The aircraft was being escorted by Greek fighter aircraft after it lost contact with ATC in Athens. One pilot was seen unconscious and the other missing from his seat. It all sounds very strange, as why would the other pilot be missing? Reports say that the aircraft ran out of fuel before it crashed.

B744skipper · Post by **B744skipper** » 14 Aug 2005, 12:35

CCN reports that an F-16 pilot said that there was no pilot visible (in the cockpit) and the co-pilot struggled in his seat.

Two questions come up with me now:

- The F-16 must have been very close to the aircraft to see that;

- The F-16 must have had some sort of information that the aircraft was in trouble, and thus having time to intercept the aircraft;

"The airport lost all contact with the plane which should have landed in the late morning, and two air force planes sent up in reconaissance found it flying above the Euboea peninsula, but they saw the pilots doubled up in the cabin," Iannis Pantazaratos said.

A Helios Boeing 737 (Flight 522) with 115 passengers and 6 crew onboard was onroute from Larnaca to Athens, where it should have landed in the late morning. It also has been reported that the aircraft seems to have been flying pilotless before crashing.

Maybe it was cabin decompression and the crew was just not quick enough to put on their oxygen masks, and when taking the F-16 reports into consideration the co-pilot struggled putting it on.

It was a Larnaca-Athens-Prague flight. According to Helios's schedules that flight would be operated with 5B-DBY, their only B737-300. It was ex. D-ADBQ Boeing 737-31S Deutsche BA
cn 29099/2982

Eyewitnesses (including the F16 pilots) reported that the a/c smashed into the mountain with full speed. Debris are spread widely over the crash site. I guess this means that there are no survivors. This sounds like a horror story from some kind of movie, the aircraft is pilot-less and then crashed into a mountain, under the eyes of fighter pilots who can't do a thing. The pilot obviously reported problems with the aircondition after takeoff in Larnaca, but the problem was considered to be rather harmless.

A spokesman for the Greek army chief of staff said the possibility of a hijacking could not immediately be ruled out.

Either why, this sounds horrible. It's really a said week/month for aviation, when are those crashes going to stop.

moons · Post by **moons** » 14 Aug 2005, 12:37

Hi,

I read it and heard it too on television. That's a strange story.

I hope we'll get the true cause of it soon.

av8or_guy · Post by **av8or_guy** » 14 Aug 2005, 12:41

so sad

there must have been a cabin decompression somewhere...
i guesss the pilots werent quick enough to get the oxygen masks...

another crash this month

aviation has taken a steep downturn this month

...

hopefully the black box might help out abit to find out...

i weep for those families of the dead

av8or_guy

B744skipper · Post by **B744skipper** » 14 Aug 2005, 12:50

It seems that the fighters went up after the aircraft did not report to the ground when passing it's waypoint at Rhodos. Does anyone knows how long it takes to fly from Rhodos to Athens? Because that means that the aircraft has been flying pilot-less for quite some time (maybe half an hour?).

Also German television has reported that the F-16 pilots saw that the B737-pilots where hanging head down in their seats, as being knocked out by something. Because the aircraft had reported trouble with the air conditioning before, I think it is likely that it has to do something with it.

Every crash is awfull, but how this story has been developing has been just pure horror! 8O

vliegtuigfreak · Post by **vliegtuigfreak** » 14 Aug 2005, 12:53

No Captain to see and the first officer was collapsed on his chair, so said VRT News (Flemish): http://www.vrtnieuws.net/nieuwsnet_mast ... index.html

Yes, i heard the same on the news. On the radionews this night they said that a hijacking is also possible.

EDIT: News is now also saying that there was a problem with the airco. So sad

Greetingzz
Sonny

moons · Post by **moons** » 14 Aug 2005, 13:00

I read some things about the airco...

If I'm not mistaken, the airco is driven by the engines? As TWA 800, the engines were running for quite long time on ground to have some airco on that hot day. The rest of that story we all know I think...

But what important role can the airco play in this story? I'm no engineer or technician, so if you guys got any ideas about it, pls tell me.

waldova · Post by **waldova** » 14 Aug 2005, 13:13

For the moment they report that toxic gases were in the cockpit. The pilot apperantly conctacted the ground before that one of the aircosystems was malfunctioning and that toxic gases where coming in the cockpit. What is supposed is that the two pilots died in the cockpit due to these gases. Also on of the passengers send an sms to tell that the plane was flying without pilots, that the pilots where dead.

I feel sorry for the familys who lost their beloved ones!! May they be strong and helped by many friends!!