With or without the locked cockpit door, it was the sort of airline that should not have been flying. Helios, which has ceased operating in the wake of the crash, was a cut-rate airline carrying British holidaymakers to and from Cyprus. According to evidence obtained by the Guardian, these may have been the first lives claimed because of the worldwide decision to lock plane cockpit doors in the wake of the airborne terrorist attacks on New York and Washington on September 11 2001.

But he was too late: the fuel ran out, the engines died, and the Boeing 737-300 dived into a Greek hillside on August 14 last year, killing all 121 people on board. As circling fighter planes watched, the 25-year-old steward, Andreas Prodromou, clutched an oxygen bottle and fought to handle the controls. It ended as a junior steward finally succeeded in breaking into the locked cockpit of the plane, where the two pilots sat unconscious. Complete report of the official investigation by the Greek air safety investigations committee (published in Greek, released in October 2006).The story of the last hours of the passengers on Helios Airways flight HCY 522 is a strange and chilling one.Aircraft Incident Report of Helios Airways Flight HCY522 at Grammatiko, Greece on 14 August 2005 (published in English, released in November 2006).Archived from the original on 13 August 2005. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Helios Airways Flight 522. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Cite error: The named reference AAIASB was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. 'ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 737-31S 5B-DBY Grammatikos'. The accident was the largest in the history of Greek aviation, along with one of the most serious in August 2005, a dark month for commercial aviation, which also featured, among others, the tragedies of West Caribbean Airways Flight 708 and TANS Perú Flight 204. Finally, already over Greek territory, it hit a hill due to lack of fuel. The cause of the accident was due to the fact that after takeoff, as the aircraft gained altitude, a failure when configuring the pressurization regulator caused the loss of consciousness of both the pilots and the passengers due to hypoxia, turning the aircraft into at that time in a 'ghost flight' that was only kept flying by the operation of the autopilot. The passengers comprised 103 Cypriot nationals and 12 Greek nationals. The passenger list included 93 adults and 22 children. Located by F-16s over Aegean island of KeaĬabin oxygen deployed, no signs of terrorismįighters see an individual in the cockpit,Īpparently trying to regain control of aircraftĬVR records a total of five mayday messages No response to radio calls from Athens ATCĪlerted to possible renegade aircraft :18 :17 Aircraft begins circling Athens on autopilot It is the deadliest aviation disaster in Greek history.Īll times Eastern European Summer Time (EEST) ( UTC + 3) in 24 h format The aircraft, a Boeing 737, collided with a mountain at 09:04 UTC on that day, near Grammatiko, 40 km north of Athens (with 115 passengers and six crew members on board), while on approach to Athens airport capital. On August 14, 2005, Helios Airways Flight 522 covered the route between Larnaca International Airport (Cyprus), and Ruzyně International Airport (Prague, Czech Republic), with a stopover in Athens ( Greece). Prague Ruzyně Int'l Airport, Prague, Czech Republic Larnaca International Airport, Larnaca, Cyprus

Helios airways