• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

Police Raid the Offices of Airline Whose Plane Crashed in Greece

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 August 2005, 12:00 CDT

Police yesterday raided the offices of the Cypriot airline whose passenger jet crashed in Greece killing all 121 people on board. Officers from the Cypriot force carried out a search of the offices of Helios Airways in the coastal city of Larnaca, near Cyprus international airport, after obtaining a search warrant from the city's court.

There were no arrests and it was not immediately clear whether police had confiscated any material.

The airline also confirmed that the text message, reportedly sent by one of the passengers to a relative moments before the plane crashed into mountains north of Athens, was a hoax.

A spokesman for the airline said, 'We can confirm that we are co- operating with police in Cyprus in accordance with usual practice following this tragic event.

'Police officers did visit the offices of Helios yesterday in order to photocopy documents, which is normal procedure.

'In addition, we have provided all relevant documentation to the Civil Aviation Authorities in Cyprus immediately following the accident.

'There has been no question of our failing to co-operate with the authorities at any time.'

The Boeing 737 jet had been heading from Larnaca to Athens and was due to fly on to Prague.

Among the 115 passengers and six crew were 48 children.

Two Greek F-16 fighter jets were sent to intercept the plane after it apparently suffered a catastrophic loss of cabin pressure or oxygen minutes before it was due to land.

One of the fighter jet pilots reported seeing the airliners co- pilot slumped unconscious over the controls.

It had been widely reported that one of the passengers sent his cousin a text message minutes before the crash, saying the pilots were unconscious and adding, 'Farewell, cousin. Here, we're frozen'.

The Cypriot carrier said last night that the message had been a hoax and that the man who claimed to have received the text message was being questioned by police.

'He has admitted himself that he has not received a text and that it was a hoax. He has since been arrested by police,' the spokesman said.

He added that the company was 'working around the clock' to assist the authorities in any way they could and contrary to press reports they had provided police with the names of the passengers 'in a timely fashion'.

He said, 'As a company we were not in a position to release names to the press until such time as all the families were informed.

'It would be unethical of us to release names without the backing of the authorities in Cyprus.'

Source: Western Mail

More News in this Category