Cypriot plane crashes in Greece

[Saint Jimmy]

And yet, I think that was hardly enough punishment... Imagine all those people who happen to know or be related to someone with the name he gave as his cousin's! I happen to be one of them, and for the past couple of days I'd like nothing more than a couple of hours alone with this distinguished gentleman, in a room with no doors.

[cannedmoose]

[cannedmoose]

All I'll say is... about bloody time...

[brother]

Sounds a little hollow this late but better than nothing i guess.

[brother]

Turks say Boeing sent out emergency signal
By Jean Christou


FLIGHT International magazine has reported that Turkish and Greek aviation authorities were disputing whether the Helios Airways Boeing 737 that crashed on Sunday issued an emergency transponder broadcast 90 minutes after it left Cyprus.

The magazine’s sister publication Air Transport Intelligence has reported that Turkish radar detected the aircraft broadcasting a distress code at around 10.30am, an hour and a half after it left Cyprus, and more than one hour after it supposedly lost contact with Nicosia and Athens control tower.

According to Flight International, such a move would require manual operation of the system, and would be the first indication that the crew realised they might have a serious emergency to confront.

However, Greek authorities told newspapers in Athens that they received no such broadcast.

The denial was followed by statements from the Turkish CAA and national airport authority DHMI to Flight International that the signal was detected by military radars and the controllers alerted the Izmir regional Air Control Centre, which in turn passed on the details to Bodrum-Milas airport, the Turkish ATC unit closest to the aircraft’s location.

“It was determined that the aircraft was not in Turkish-controlled air space and no further action was taken,” the magazine said.

According to yesterday’s Ta Nea newspaper in Athens, the plane flew over Rhodes at 34,000 feet at around 10.20am, shortly before Turkey said it received the signal.

The paper said the plane then began circling over the island of Tzia and at 10.30am passed over Athens airport. It then changed course back towards Tzia, and began circling again two more times before breaking out of the circle and heading north west towards Halkida at around 10,000 to 11,000 feet. It then changed course again towards Tanagra airport but crashed shortly after into the mountainside.

The flight path indicates that someone was trying to control the plane at some point before it crashed – and if the Turkish control tower was correct – that might have been as early as 10.30am.

[Crash Test Dummy]

i know 2 groups of people whohave cancelled their flights with helios. they will go bust soon

[cannedmoose]

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/main.php?id=21486&archive=1

Hopefully this young man will get the recognition his actions deserved...

[brother]

Absolutely, a brave man who tried to save lives, must be remembered and honoured imo.

[Crash Test Dummy]

a hero

[petethegreek]

The more I read and hear, the more I'm convinced that someone is hiding something.

[magikthrill]

seriuosly. have they even found the pilots body yet? im convinced he wasnt on that flight...

[Yiannis]

[magikthrill]

of course the "Helios mechanic" would say something like that. what would happen to the company if it was found out they're sending out planes w/out pilots?

[Yiannis]

[magikthrill]

so where is the pilot then?