Cypriot plane crashes in Greece

[bananas]

I just heard this on kgo-am.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4150312.stm

Last Updated: Sunday, 14 August 2005, 09:56 GMT 10:56 UK

Cypriot plane crashes in Greece

A Cypriot passenger airliner carrying at least 121 people has crashed north-east of Athens.

The plane - from Helios Airways - hit a mountain as it approached Athens after one pilot was seen slumped in his seat and the other could not be seen.

An air traffic controller at Athens airport told the AFP news agency the plane, travelling from Larnaca, Cyprus, crashed into the Euboea peninsula.

The crash was reported by F-16 pilots sent to aid the struggling plane.

<more>

[girl gone mad]

1. This is bizarre.

I don't know if the news reports are true, but I've read that the pilots appeared to be "doubled up" (read: dead).

Where was the flight crew?

Trying not to speculate too much until more facts come in.

[bananas]

2. it said that in the bbc report

I'm not sure how much we're allowed to quote.

[girl gone mad]

4. If they had time to scramble F16s...

it must have been unpiloted for quite some time.

Unconfirmed reports on Greek television say that the pilot collapsed soon after take-off and that there may have been a fire or an explosion in the cockpit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Airways_Flight_ZU522

That doesn't explain why the flight crew was apparently not in contact..

[bluedonkey]

3. Are they

still fighting?I thought they made up.

[Ian David]

5. Here's an update from CNN

<snip>

One of the F-16 pilots reported he could not see the captain in the cockpit and that the co-pilot appeared to be slumped in his seat, a Greek Defense Ministry official told Reuters.


<snip>

Witness Dimitris Karezas, who owns a summer camp in the area, said, "I saw the plane coming. I knew it was serious or that it was some kind of VIP because I saw the two fighter jets.

<snip>

Military helicopters spotted some debris and smoke but no movement on the ground, Reuters said.

<snip>

"Two, three minutes later I heard a big bang and ever since I've started looking for it, but I have not found anything yet," he told reporters.

More:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/08/14/greece.crash/

[montana_hazeleyes]

6. mountain crashes

don't leave much hope for survivors do they?

[NeoConsSuck]

7. Sounds like some sort of sabotage

both the pilot and co-pilot were incapacitated? None of the other four flight crew could make contact?

[bananas]

10. Payne Stewart

Did they ever find out what happened with the Payne Stewart crash?

[BooScout]

11. I don't think so....

It sounds like a technical problem. The pilots reported problems with the A/C and someone texted messaged a cousin that the pilots were "slumped" & the plane was freezing.

[BooScout]

8. BBC World News ......

Mentioned there had possibly been some problems with that plane's Air Conditioning.

[Pilotguy]

9. Sounds like it...

could have been a pressurization problem. A sudden and rapid loss of pressurization in the cabin would explain the incapacitated pilots and the passenger text message that the plane was "freezing cold."

[awoke_in_2003]

12. Wouldn't a rapid decompression...

alert the pilot of a problem? That usually makes a big noise, pilot should be able to don O2 masks and make an emergency descent to 10k ft. Sound more like hypoxia- diminished oxygen content in plane, effects come on slowly. Eventually would cause blackouts, then death. Do pilots know the warning signs? I have been in the training simulation biz for 7 years, and our center (FlightSafety Dallas) only just recently got hypoxia training simulation.

[Bluebear]

13. Bizarre. CNN says pilot was NOT in cockpit

Fighter jets could not see him and copilot was slumped over? Something weird happened.

[oneighty]

14. An explosive decompression

at high altitudes can cause this. Death would come quickly to everybody aboard. We are talking seconds to death rather than minutes if the aircraft is high enough.

Google; Explosive decompression aircraft.

180

[wakeme2008]

15. lose of cabin pressure per BBC

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4150312.stm

Greece airliner crash 'kills 121'


See the crash site
All 121 people on board a Cypriot airliner are feared dead after it plunged into a hill near Athens after an apparent drop in cabin pressure.

A text message sent from the plane said that the pilots were unconscious and passengers were freezing to death.

.more at link...

[TrueAmerican]

16. 121 dead in Greek air crash

121 dead in Greek air crash

Sunday, August 14, 2005; Posted: 9:00 a.m. EDT (13:00 GMT)

The crash occurred in a mountainous area north of Athens.
Image:

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- A Cypriot plane with "no sign of life" in the cockpit as it approached Athens has crashed into a mountain, killing all 121 people on board, Greek officials said.

F-16 pilots escorting the jet after air traffic controllers lost contact with it said the pilot was not in the cockpit and the co-pilot was slumped over the controls, according to reports.

The pilots of the Helios Airlines Boeing 737 had reported an air conditioning problem, and Greek TV said a passenger sent a text message to his cousin saying it was freezing in the plane.

more:
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/08/14/greece.crash/

Please delete: Original Post here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1700450

[ananda]

17. so..

.. the pilots suffered carbon monoxide poisoning? What a shame.

Sue

[mhr]

18. That Or Hypoxia

eom

[Rich Hunt]

19. kick

I'm wondering what the hell happened.

[gauguin57]

20. "We are all frozen"

From AOL News:

http://aolsvc.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20050814052709990004&ncid=NWS00010000000001

"... Sotiris Voutas, the first cousin of a passenger on the plane, said he received a text message from his relative on his mobile phone minutes before the crash.

"He told me the pilots were unconscious ... he said: 'My cousin I bid you farewell, we are all frozen'." ....

Soooo... sounds like the passengers were conscious, just not the pilot/co-pilot (???)

[Redstone]

21. This happened a couple of years back as well...

it wsa a smalljet that had, I think, some famous golfer (or coach, or someone in the sports world).

The plane decompressed, and the AF actually sent up fighters to track it and shoot it down if it looked like it was going to crash in a populated area...it flew for several hours on autopilot berofe finally runing out of fuel.

Redstone

[spinbaby]

22. 48 children on board

So sad.

[Swede]

23. This is awful news.

Sounds like what happened to Payne Stewart,but on a large plane.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/08/14/greece.crash/index.html