Cypriot plane crash focuses on past problems
(AP)
Updated: 2005-08-17 08:56

Investigators seeking the cause of a plane crash in which 121 people died focused Tuesday on possible technical problems suffered by the aircraft, reported AP.

The Helios Airways flight from Larnaca to Athens had been carrying 115 passengers �� including 20 children �� and six crew.

Investigators were still searching for the remains of three people, while relatives had identified only 26 bodies by late Tuesday. The remains of the plane's German pilot were not among them.

A firefighter pauses to look at the wreckage of the Cypriot Helios plane on the third day of the investigations into the three missing bodies. The crash Sunday on a hillside in Grammatiko, 40 kilometers north of Athens, Greece killed all 121 passengers on board. [AP]

Investigators were also looking into claims that the plane had suffered technical problems in the past.

A former chief mechanic for Helios, Kyriakos Pilavakis, said the Boeing 737-300 had lost cabin pressure during a flight last December, after a door was apparently not sealed properly.

"It was a flight from Warsaw ... The indications were that air had escaped from one of the doors �� the right door on the rear," Pilavakis told Greece's state-run NET television.

Pilavakis, who said he resigned from the airline in January, gave six hours of testimony to investigators in Cyprus who have seized maintenance records and other documents from Helios.

Helios managing director Dimitris Pantazis insisted the plane had been air-worthy.

"I understand the pain and grief felt across Cyprus," he said. "Safety was always our first priority. This was never compromised for the sake of profit ... We must stop speculation and let the experts do their work."

Autopsies have been performed on all 26 bodies identified by relatives. They included those of co-pilot Pambos Haralambous and flight attendant Louiza Vouteri, which were found close together and near the remains of the cockpit, coroners Nikos Kalogrias and Fillipos Koutsaftis said. The autopsy results showed all 26 were alive �� but not necessarily conscious �� when the plane went down. Medical examiners are also testing for the possible presence of toxic gases in the cabin.

Chris Yates, a British aviation analyst with Jane's Transport, said loss of cabin pressure could have caused the crash.

"I think we're looking at pure depressurization," Yates said. The pilot "had apparently reported to Larnaca that (the plane) had experienced an air-conditioning problem. It seems the pilot decided that problem was not sufficiently serious to warrant a return to Larnaca and continued the journey."

He added that "depressurization could have left those on board alive, but unconscious. There is scientific evidence to suggest that people who fall into unconsciousness because of this sort of thing can remain alive for a considerable length of time irrespective of the fact that the air supply is limited."

The Helios jet crashed near the village of Grammatiko, 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Athens, after the plane plunged 10,400 meters (34,000 feet) into a mountainous area.

Greek air force jets scrambled when the plane lost contact with air traffic control had been escorting the plane. The fighter pilots reported seeing the co-pilot slumped over the controls in the cockpit, apparently unconscious. There was no sign in the cockpit of the pilot.

The plane's flight data recorder and the remains of the badly damaged voice recorder will be examined in Paris.

In Cyprus, President Tassos Papadopoulos attended a church service on the island to mark three days of national mourning. He said he was considering requesting help from European investigators.

"We remain at the side of the grief-stricken families ... The government will not stop at messages of condolence. Those responsible �� whoever they are �� will be found," Papadopoulos said.

Relatives of the victims visited the crash site near Athens for the first time Tuesday to attend an outdoor memorial service, held beside the tail of the plane �� one of the few remaining pieces of the aircraft.

Late Tuesday, 23 of the identified bodies were flown to Cyprus aboard a Greek military transport plane. Many bodies of the 121 people aboard were burned in a brush fire sparked by the crash and will be identified in Athens by DNA comparison with close family members.

Marios Tsopanis, whose sister Christiana Douna was killed in the crash along with her husband and three children, sobbed with grief.

"I just want to bring them home for the burial," he said. "It's the waiting that so awful."

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