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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
|---|---|
| Human error caused Helios crash | Human error caused Helios crash |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| A series of human errors caused Cyprus's worst airline disaster, a Greek inquiry report has concluded. | A series of human errors caused Cyprus's worst airline disaster, a Greek inquiry report has concluded. |
| The Cypriot Helios Airways Boeing 737-300 crashed near Athens in August 2005, killing all 121 people on board. | The Cypriot Helios Airways Boeing 737-300 crashed near Athens in August 2005, killing all 121 people on board. |
| The flight from Larnaca to Prague flew on autopilot for nearly two hours before running out of fuel and slamming into a hillside. | The flight from Larnaca to Prague flew on autopilot for nearly two hours before running out of fuel and slamming into a hillside. |
| The report said the pilots misread instruments regulating cabin pressure and misinterpreted a warning signal. | The report said the pilots misread instruments regulating cabin pressure and misinterpreted a warning signal. |
| 'Ineffective' measures | 'Ineffective' measures |
| Maintenance officials on the ground were also blamed for leaving pressure controls on an incorrect setting. | Maintenance officials on the ground were also blamed for leaving pressure controls on an incorrect setting. |
| In addition, the plane's manufacturers Boeing took "ineffective" measures in response to previous pressurisation incidents in the particular type of aircraft, the report said. | In addition, the plane's manufacturers Boeing took "ineffective" measures in response to previous pressurisation incidents in the particular type of aircraft, the report said. |
| The plane was starved of oxygen as it gained altitude, which rendered the pilots and passengers unconscious. | The plane was starved of oxygen as it gained altitude, which rendered the pilots and passengers unconscious. |
| Two Greek air force fighter jets were scrambled when the aircraft lost radio contact. | Two Greek air force fighter jets were scrambled when the aircraft lost radio contact. |
| Their flight crew saw the Boeing's pilots slumped over the controls and a flight attendant struggling to control the aircraft before it crashed. | Their flight crew saw the Boeing's pilots slumped over the controls and a flight attendant struggling to control the aircraft before it crashed. |
| Deficiencies | |
| Helios Airways - which is now known as Ajet Airways - also came in for criticism, with the report finding "deficiencies" in its organisation, while the Cypriot regulatory authority was accused of "inadequate execution of its safety oversight responsibilities". | Helios Airways - which is now known as Ajet Airways - also came in for criticism, with the report finding "deficiencies" in its organisation, while the Cypriot regulatory authority was accused of "inadequate execution of its safety oversight responsibilities". |
| Both Boeing and the Cypriot authorities have since taken steps to correct a number of recommendations made by Greek investigators, the report said. | |
| The air industry had been eagerly awaiting the report by the commission investigating the accident as the Helios disaster was regarded as one of the most puzzling in aviation history. | The air industry had been eagerly awaiting the report by the commission investigating the accident as the Helios disaster was regarded as one of the most puzzling in aviation history. |
| The airliner crashed on 14 August, 2005. Most of the victims were Cypriots, many of them young children. |