Here Today... Gone To Hell!

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-08-14T112430Z_01_KWA433859_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-CRASH-GREECE-DC.XML

By Brian Williams
ATHENS (Reuters) - A Cypriot airliner carrying 121 people crashed north of Athens on Sunday after the pilot and a passenger reported cabin pressure problems moments before the plane was due to land.

"The pilot has turned blue," a passenger said in a mobile text message to his cousin, Greek television reported. "Cousin farewell, we're freezing," it said.

Greek TV station Alpha reported that the pilot had told air traffic controllers the plane was experiencing air conditioning problems. Moments later, communications with the plane were cut.

Greek police and firefighters at the crash site said there were no immediate signs of survivors. Plane wreckage was scattered widely about the mountainous, uninhabited area, about 40 km (25 miles) north of Athens.

"We have yet to locate any survivors. There is a small fire still burning, but it will be dealt with very quickly," a firefighter at the scene told Reuters.

Two Greek F-16 fighter jets were scrambled after the Helios Airways jet, en route from Larnaca in Cyprus to Prague via Athens, lost contact with the control tower at Athens international airport.

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

Greek police said there were no signs the plane had been hijacked.

LOST CONSCIOUSNESS

Cypriot airport officials said flight HCY522 left Larnaca at 9 a.m. and lost contact at 10:30 a.m. The pilot appeared to have lost consciousness due to a loss in cabin pressure in the cockpit, Larnaca airport officials said on Cyprus state television CYBC.

"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," said witness Dimitris Karezas, who owns a summer camp in the area.? ?

"Two, three minutes later I heard a big bang," he said.

A Greek police spokesman said there had been 115 passengers and six crew members on board, of which 59 and eight children were heading to Athens, with 48 continuing on to Prague.

A spokeswoman for the Czech Airport Authority, Anna Kovarikova, said the flight had been due to land in Prague at 1. 10 a.m. (1110 GMT).

As the extent of the disaster became clear, Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis broke off his holiday on the Greek island of Tinos to rush back to Athens.

Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos was heading to Larnaca, where frantic relatives and friends began gathering outside the offices of Helios.

At the airport in Prague, where friends and relatives were gathering to meet the flight, screens showing departures and arrivals read simply "delayed."

Helios, Cyprus's first private carrier, established in 1999, flies to Dublin, Sofia, Warsaw, Prague, Strasbourg and several British airports using a fleet of Boeing B737 aircraft.

(Additional reporting by Karolos Grohmann in Athens, Jean Christou in Nicosia and Alan Crosby in Prague)


R.I.P to all the persons aboard... :(

yeah read that

i could so see the f-16 pilot looking at the cockpit .... i know the story is sad .... but it hink f-16 are beautiful .... and the fact that a pilot can look out the window to see the empty cockpit .... that's cool.

sad story anyway. 

It's my idea a lot of airplanes are going down?? Yesterady In Venezuela there was also a crash and not long time ago I think it was in Canada right, so I think is kinda freaky  :nervous:

http://www.heretodaygonetohell.com/board/index.php?topic=22113.0
;)

It seems that months August and September are full of such accidents since people are not carefull enough when they're used to relaxement (due to the vacation period).
This incident took place in my country and the medias covered it a lot these days. The company was a cheap one. It was reported some problems in older flights as well but I guess they didn't give much attention. I think the pilot made some mistakes as well.
What else can I say, it's sad. We should take care, if you pay too little, you get what you paid for, and I don't think that Cyrpiots have a low income so they couldn't afford money.

Look, if human beings were meant to fly, God would have given us antigrav!

But oh no, we never got anything like that! All we friggin' got off the prick was free will, and that movie SUCKED ASS, BLEW GOATS and just generally WASN'T VERY GOOD; even though it made me cry; several times; last night.

<singing>

Hold me
Like the river Jordan...

What?

Where does Christos live?
Anyone heard from him?

I had never heard of Helios before this accident. Why should they? It has all been reported now. Where were all these people that report these shitty stories now?



We don't know anything about this yet.



It is naive to make such generalisations and comments.

There are rich Greeks and poor Greeks. There are rich Americans and poor Americans. There are rich Cypriots and poor Cypriots.

So, should all the people that fly Easyjet die just because they paid less money than the ones who flew with Olympic Airways or Virgin Atlantic?

How many accidents have you heard concerning Easyjet? It's not about cheap companies. It's about greedy people. These companies that have had accidents, had people with no mind in key positions. You can't cut expenses off the service costs, this is what happens. They are simply irresponsible.

Helios was a fucked up company, they only had 4 planes and they had constant problems. People don't search about a plane's history when they get cheaper tickets. They're just trying to get through life and save as much money for the future cause they have children.

10 families were in that plane. Do you think these children's parents wanted them to die? Do you think that's why the got cheaper tickets? No. They were just trying to save some money, so they could give them a better future.

Thank fuck for that.
I know this happened a few days ago but his absence from the thread scared me a little.

Don't worry you little punk, I'm here to spank your little English ass...? :smoking:

Oh good, email me for our next secret liaison!  :-*

Can't do that.

I'm still washing up from our last time...  :P

I think the cost of living in Cyprus is far better than the Greek one and I don't think someone should risk his life to save money. Perhaps they couldn't afford, who knows? Too late now.

When are you guys gonna start inviting others to join in on the fun instead of being so secretive about it? ?:'(

You probably haven't given enough attention to my post. Please read it again and you'll find the answer to this post.

Yap, that's why I say I think instead of talking certain.


Of course not.
Paying less money doesn't mean you have to die but it means you get less quality in your flight and you put yourself in danger. I don't blame the people, it's just a finding.

Exactly, less quality not less safety.

The fact that I won't get to eat or drink for 3 hours doesn't mean that my safety is being compromised.

People think "why should I pay all this extra money for some shitty food and some orange juice or a coke. I'll get them myself."

That's what you pay less for. Not to get yourself killed...

True.
It's the damn companies that don't respect it...

That was my point.

We shouldn't generalize cheap air companies. Just because some irresponsible people still work at some, doesn't mean that they're all bad.

Take for example Easyjet, Ryanair etc...