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Jet Had Problems Landing at Brum; Trouble for Helios Plane on Eve of Athens Crash

Posted on: Friday, 19 August 2005, 06:00 CDT

A HELIOS AIRWAYS jet had problems landing at Birmingham Airport the day before the crash which killed 121 people in Athens.

The plane, which was coming in to land at Birmingham from Larnaca, Cyprus, on Saturday evening, was forced to circle the airport due to problems with its landing flaps.

A spokesman for Birmingham Airport said: "The plane circled the airport before being brought in to land, escorted by a fire engine as a precautionary measure."

In Cyprus, police have raided the offices of Helios Airways looking for documents that could be used in a possible criminal investigation.

Aviation experts are still struggling to unravel the sequence of events that led to the crash on Sunday, which killed all those on board the Boeing 737.

It is thought the plane suffered a severe loss of cabin pressure, exposing those on board to extreme cold and lack of oxygen.

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 today in order to photocopy documents, which is part of their 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."

Source: Coventry Evening Telegraph

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