This year marks the twenty-first anniversary of the unspeakable tragedy that left an indelible mark on Cyprus, in the summer of 2005, when on August 14, a flight that began like any other turned into a tragedy.
The crash of the Helios Airways aircraft, which was flying from Larnaca Airport to Prague with a stopover at “Eleftherios Venizelos,” shocked the entire island of Cyprus.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The aircraft crashed in the mountainous region of Grammatiko, Attica, killing 121 people, including 22 children and all six crew members. Of the victims, 103 were of Cypriot origin and 12 were from Greece.
Entire families were wiped out, while many children lost their parents and were left orphaned.
On Sunday, August 9, the annual memorial service was held at the Metropolitan Church of St. George in Paralimni—the hometown of many of the 121 victims of the tragedy— the annual memorial service presided over by Vasilios, Metropolitan of Constantia and Ammochostos.
The Minister of Transport, Communications, and Public Works, Evanthia Tsolaki, said in her memorial address that the State’s presence is not merely a formality but a duty owed to the victims’ families. Their pain, she emphasized, is neither private nor forgotten, but is part of Cyprus’s collective memory.
She particularly highlighted the strength, dignity, and resilience of the victims’ families, who, 21 years after the tragedy, continue to bear the burden of their loss.
The Minister laid a wreath on behalf of the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides. Following the memorial service, a prayer service was held and wreaths were laid at the Paralimni Municipal Cemetery in memory of the victims of the tragedy.
The Flight
The ill-fated aircraft departed on the morning of August 14, 2005, from Larnaca Airport, bound for Prague with a stopover at “Eleftherios Venizelos” Airport in Athens. At 10:15 a.m., the aircraft entered Athens National Airspace, but without making any contact with the Control Tower.
At 11:05 a.m., two F-16 fighter jets took off from Nea Anchialos and made visual contact with the plane at 11:18 and determined that the aircraft’s co-pilot was unconscious, the pilot was not at his station, and the oxygen supply system with masks had been activated.
As the investigation revealed, the aircraft was flying on autopilot, and all those on board had lost consciousness except for flight attendant Andreas Prodromou, who was attempting to take control of the aircraft. At 12:05 p.m., the aircraft crashed in the mountainous region of Grammatiko, killing all 115 passengers and the six-member crew.
Court Ruling
On February 18, 2013, the Nicosia Criminal Court acquitted all defendants of all charges in the case of the crash on August 14, 2005, in Attica, of the ill-fated “Boeing 737-300” in Grammatiko, Attica, an accident that resulted in the deaths of 121 people.
The acquittal came after the suspension of criminal proceedings filed by the Office of the Attorney General against all the accused individuals and the airline “Helios.”
The defendants were “Helios” Executive Chairman Andreas Drakos and the company’s CEO Dimitris Pantazis, as well as Flight Director George Kikkidis and the company’s Bulgarian chief pilot, Yanko Stoimenov.
The Athens Court of Appeals had upheld the conviction imposed in the first instance by the Three-Member Misdemeanor Court, in its decision of February 7, 2013. Their sentence—122 years in prison for each—had been commuted to a ten-year term and subsequently converted to a fine. After paying approximately 73,000 euros each, they were released.
Based on the principle that no one may be tried by two countries for the same offense, the three were expected to be removed from the Cypriot indictment. The Attorney General ruled that the prosecution of all the defendants should be suspended, citing insurmountable difficulties in proceeding with the case.
Source: CNA
