Cyprus plane sent “Mayday” minutes before crash

By Karolos Grohmann

ATHENS (Reuters) – An exhausted-sounding man sent
last-minute Mayday calls from a Cypriot airliner that crashed
earlier this month, Greek officials investigating one of civil
aviation’s most baffling incidents said on Monday.

The Helios Airways Boeing 737 crashed on Aug 14 into
mountains near Athens, plunging from around 35,000 feet up (10
kilometres) to kill all 115 passengers and six crew in Greece
and Cyprus’ worst air disaster.

The cause of the crash is a mystery — the plane had flown
for 2-1/2 hours without making radio contact, and F16 fighters
scrambled to investigate had reported seeing no pilot present,
and a seemingly unconscious co-pilot slumped in his seat.

As Helios started safety checks in Sweden on its remaining
Boeings, the crash’s chief investigator said a steward who had
some flight training was thought to have made the last gasp cry
for help from the plane’s cockpit.

In a letter to Greece’s transport ministry, Akrivos
Tsolakis also said the Boeing crashed after the engines
stopped, a possible signal the plane ran out of fuel after
flying for nearly twice the scheduled 90 minute flight from
Larnaca in Cyprus to Athens, a stop on the way to final
destination Prague.

“There are signs there were problems with the compression
system,” Tsolakis said in the letter, read out on state TV.

“There is proof that the engines stopped working, causing
the plane to drop.”

Police have confirmed steward Andreas Prodromou, who was
learning to fly small planes, was inside the cockpit and
appeared to be trying to fly the plane for about 30 minutes
before it crashed.

“The man who sent the Mayday calls sounded tired and
exhausted,” the letter said.

WRONG FREQUENCY

Greek media reported Athens control tower did not pick up
the warnings because they were transmitted on a wrong
frequency.

Autopsies have found that those crew and passengers
examined were alive on impact and did not suffer from carbon
monoxide poisoning, possibly indicating that they suffered from
a lack of oxygen to send them unconscious.

The plane took off at 0607 GMT from Larnaca in Cyprus and
about 35 minutes later reported a problem with the air
conditioning system, but was told to fly on to Athens.

Shortly afterwards Cypriot aviation officials failed to
communicate with the plane’s cockpit at 0637 GMT and informed
Athens control tower.

Almost an hour later, as the plane neared Athens but still
failed to make any contact, two F16s took off to shadow the
plane, which at 0904 GMT crashed into the mountainside.

Helios, owned by Libra Holidays Group, a British holiday
tour operator, has defended its record but revealed the crashed
plane had a previous cabin pressure problem.

Last December the plane had to descend swiftly from 34,000
to 11,000 feet on a Warsaw-Larnaca flight, it said.

Helios flies to Athens, Greek islands, Dublin, Sofia,
Warsaw, Prague, Strasbourg and British airports.