Posted on 08/16/2005 8:09:21 AM PDT by Fitzcarraldo
The crash of a Cypriot airliner that killed 121 people near Athens likely occurred after it ran out of fuel while heading towards Athens International Airport, a senior government source said Tuesday.
"We surmise that the (Helios Airways) plane was heading towards Athens International Airport and that it ran out of fuel," the government official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
All 121 people aboard the aircraft died in the accident, which is believed to have occurred after a disastrous air supply failure almost two hours before it smashed into a mountain near the Greek capital.
Earlier on Tuesday officials said that the body of a stewardess was found near the remains of the cockpit, suggesting that she may have tried to grasp the plane's controls in a desperate bid to avert tragedy.
Autopsies on the first 25 of the bodies of the 121 passengers and crew show they were all alive -- although not necessarily conscious -- when it ploughed into a hillside near Athens, coroner Philippos Koutsaftis told AFP.
Information from Cyprus, where the plane originated, suggests that in addition to the two pilots, one other crew member had flying experience from small aircraft, the official said, without identifying the individual.
The Cypriot co-pilot's body was also recovered in the same area, though not that of the German pilot.
Also on Tuesday, the government denied press reports that it had at one point considered having the rogue plane shot down to prevent it from crashing into a populated area.
The Eleftherotypia newspaper had earlier quoted a senior government official saying: "Five more minutes and we would have eliminated it."
The Greek Prime Minister's office said that government spokesman Theodore Roussopoulos had already stressed the government's response was according to international conventions.
Roussopoulos on Sunday said that the plane had been considered an out-of-control "confirmed renegade" that could be shot down if it threatened to crash into a populated area.
But he said the government had "no such thought" of shooting down the aircraft, while a defence ministry source told AFP that "the question never arose".
This sounds like a Ron White stand up routine in the making. (sorry)
Helios Airways Flight ZU522 [may have] decompressed at 34,000 feet
I know nothing about flying, so this might be a really dumb question. But how would running out of fuel cause the pilots of the plane to be unconscious, and the passengers frozen, as some reports state?
Excellent question!
SUPPOSEDLY it ran out of fuel after circling a few times at 34,000 feet on autopilot, after the passengers and crew were incapacitated from the loss of cabin oxygen...LUCKILY it crashed into an isolated mountainside and not in the ocean or heavily populated area...
Thanks. It's all so strange--and yesterday the police raided the offices of the airline company, confiscating documents. Perhaps it's nothing much, but it sure makes me wonder.
Maybe they were trying to figure out who was really on the flight crew...
FAA regs require a pilot to be on oxygen above FL 250 if he's the only one occupying the seat. That would happen if the other pilot had to make a trip to the lav etc. The requirement for one pilot to always be on oxy doesn't kick in til FL 410 I believe.
I thought it cruised for some time prior to crash. I was wondering if the crew (or someone) got it to a lower altitude where there was enough oxygen to sustain life or revive the souls on board.
Or perhaps it was in a slow descent until it crashed and gradually passed through more oxygen-rich air? Just idle speculation on my part. A real tragedy in any event.
"SUPPOSEDLY it ran out of fuel after circling a few times at 34,000 feet on autopilot"
I have a real problem with that part of the story.
Why would a plane 'circle' on Auto-Pilot?
Although I've never flown a plane, I've always understood that Auto-Pilot, once engaged, continued to fly on the heading the plane was currently at.
What would make the pilot turn the plane into a 'circular' path and then activate the Auto-Pilot?
It doesn't make sense.
Has anyone seen a detailed graphic depicting the flight path from takeoff to crash?
One crewmember has to be on oxygen if the other leaves the cockpit, leaving just one pilot at the controls. Or if they are flying above 41,000 feet.
Most autopilots can do far more than fly in a straight line.
"Yes, before this I thought auto-pilot was used only during cruise while the plane is on a fixed heading and altitude..."
Exactly!
So the plane 'circling on Auto-Pilot' just doesn't make any sense.
If they didn't do a lot of circles, they weren't carrying much extra fuel for that flight, to run out so close to their destination like that.
But circle?
What would be the purpose?
Especially since they were on 'approach' to the air field?
Well, at least they're not trotting out the Flying Frozen Butterball Hypothesis.
Wasn't the flight going on to Prague? Were they scheduled to refuel at Athens? If not, unless they sprang a leak, they should've had plenty of fuel.
It's more cost effecient to fuel only to each stop and not carry the extra weight. But they should have had about 45 minutes of fuel left at Athens.... more in bad weather.
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