A diary found at the scene of a Cypriot airliner crash outside Athens could provide clues to one of the most perplexing disasters in aviation history, it has emerged.
Crash investigators will study the diary of the plane’s co-pilot, Pambos Charalambous, who secretly chronicled his concerns about technical problems with the doomed Helios Airways Boeing 737, which plunged into a mountain a fortnight ago, killing all 121 people on board.
His son Yiannis, a trainee pilot, had said before the find that the discovery of the diary would be a ”potential major breakthrough” in finding out what happened.
It contained enough compromising revelations to close Helios down. ”My father kept a diary in which he logged every one of that plane’s and [the] airline’s problems,” he said, as thousands of people gathered last week for his father’s funeral in the Cypriot capital, Nicosia.
”He once told me that if any of it ever got out the company would close. As far as I know he kept the diary in a leather bag which he had with him. I’d do anything to get my hands on it now.” The logbook has since been found at the scene of the crash. Investigators clandestinely flew in Charalambous’s widow from Cyprus to confirm that the diary was her husband’s, sources told the Greek newspaper Kathimerini. It was then passed to the Greek head of the investigation team, Akrivos Tsolakis, who arrives in Cyprus on Monday to interview officials and Helios airline staff.
Initial findings have revealed that the airliner cabin failed to pressurise on take-off, which probably rendered virtually everyone on board unconscious. The jet crashed when it ran out of fuel after aimlessly circling the Greek skies for three hours.
Tsolakis, who said the accident was ”the strangest” he had seen in 50 years as a civil aviation safety expert, believed the diary could provide vital clues on why the plane lost pressure, prompting the events that led to the crash.
The discovery came as forensic experts identified the remains of the airline’s German-born pilot, Hans-Jeugen Merten. This ruled out one of the more bizarre theories that have abounded since the crash: that Merten had parachuted out of the plane.
But it remained unclear on Saturday how many people desperately tried to avert the disaster in the final minutes before the crash.
Greek F-16 fighter pilots, who were ordered to shadow the airliner during its final minutes in the air, say they saw an unidentified man grappling with the controls moments before the plane plunged to earth, as the co-pilot lay slumped in his seat.
It has since been reported that four people, including Charalambous, were in the cockpit at the time of the crash.
The tragedy has raised questions about Helios, a tiny company with four planes which was established in 1999. Its owner is Libra Holidays, one of the UK’s top independent holiday firms.
The airline initially insisted that the Boeing 737 was airworthy but then revealed it had a previous cabin pressure problem.
The affair has raised questions about some low-cost airlines. International research quoted in the Greek daily Ta Nea said budget airlines account for 50% of accidents but operate just 10% of the world’s routes.
The European Commission said on Friday it will issue a blacklist of airlines thought to be unsafe. – Guardian Unlimited Â