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".
Supposedly, yes, it was circling around for quite a while. Now, why people didn't try to get into the cockpit, take control of it, and descend the plane in the two hours *before* it ran out of fuel...that's the question.
}:-)4
And why were the pilots passed out when the crew was still walking around?
Agreed. This was a very short flight in airliner terms.
I thought it was flying in circles on auto-pilot because everyone on board was "frozen solid"? Of course it ran out of gas.
I'm too lazy to read it again.
Do they say that it ran out of fuel BEFORE the decompression or afterwards when it had been flying for two hours with dead people in it?
"...considered having the rogue plane shot down to prevent it from crashing into a populated area. .... "Five more minutes and we would have eliminated it."
And there is still NO MENTION of the AlQuaeda islamic jihadist threats in Turkey about hijaking planes and crashing them into the cities very recently.
Do they really think people are THAT ignorant?
Yes!
That question never arose? Aren't there people in the Greek government whose paychecks are based on raising questions like that?
if it ran out of fuel before the decompression there would have been no decompression, just a crash..
Conspiricy guru alert: Did the last-minute substitute German pilot parachute out?
This is getting very "Art Bell"-ish.
That's what I'm saying / asking.
""That question never arose? Aren't there people in the Greek government whose paychecks are based on raising questions like that?""
Indeed. Then it seems the real story is not the crash, but that a rogue plane is flying around and no one is asking any questions or paying attention.. Guess they think we're all stupid or somnething..
New report states that co-pilot was alive when plane crashed.
Co-pilot said alive before Greece crash
8/16/2005, 10:40 a.m. ET
By PATRICK QUINN
The Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The co-pilot and a flight attendant were among dozens of people still alive when a Cypriot airliner plunged into the mountains north of Athens, the coroner said Tuesday, deepening the mystery over what incapacitated the flight carrying 121 people.....
http://www.nj.com/newsflash/topstories/index.ssf?/base/international-14/1124190680305800.xml&storylist=
Due to the positive dearth of comic book supervillians in the real world, the "frozen solid" rumor was the stupidest thing I've read in a while.
If it ran out of fuel before it crashed, then why would have any of the bodies be 'charred beyond recognition',as was reported yesterday?
What was left to burn?
Yeah. I remember that. Which is why I'm wondering why this is such a new revelation.
It's very strange, because I thought that ICAO regulations require at least one member of aircrew to be on oxygen at all times when the aircraft is above a specified altitude (like 14,000 feet), in case of decompression. Even in the event of rapid decompression, the air crew should have had time to don their oxygen gear. Something stinks about this story.
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