Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Karl Nixon
What: Helios Airways Boeing 737-300 en route from Cyprus to Athens to Prague, Czech Republic
Where: Athens
When: Aug. 14, 2005
Who: 121 passengers
Why: Before losing radio contract, pilots reported trouble with the air conditioning system. In the flight, cabin pressure failure knocked out the pilots. They made it to Athens, but the plane ran out of fuel and crashed. Crash video shows fire fighting planes controlling fires, bodies, baggage, airplane spread over a large debris field, the tail and engines relatively intact. At the time of the crash, except for one pilot (who was observed trying to land the plane), everyone aboard was comatose due to lack of oxygen.
In the case, prosecution failed to prove that German pilot Hans-Juergen Merten and his Cypriot co-pilot Charalambos Charalambous didn’t meet the minimum standards
A Cyprus court has acquitted four former airline officials of manslaughter charges.
In George’s Point of View
This court case is just another example of how long aviation cases, including the criminal cases of potentially/allegedly responsible parties, can drag on in court.
