This year marks twenty-one years since the unspeakable tragedy that indelibly scarred 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" Airport, shocked the whole of Cyprus.
The aircraft crashed in the mountainous area of Grammatiko, Attica, killing 121 people, including 22 children, including the 6 crew members. 103 were of Cypriot origin and 12 were Greeks.
Entire families were wiped out, while many children lost their parents and were orphaned.
On Sunday, August 9, the annual memorial service of the head of the Metropolitan Church of Saint George in Paralimni, where many of the 121 victims of the tragedy came from, was held. Metropolitan Vasilios of Constantia and Famagusta
The Minister of Transport, Communications and Works, Evanthia Tsolaki, in her memorial speech said that the State's presence is not formal but constitutes a duty towards the families of the victims. Their pain, she stressed, is not private nor forgotten, but is part of the collective memory of Cyprus.
He particularly focused on the strength, dignity and resilience of the families of the victims, who, 21 years after the tragedy, still bear the burden of loss.
The Minister laid a wreath on behalf of the President of the Republic, Nikos Christodoulides. After the memorial service, a memorial service and wreath-laying ceremony were held at the Paralimni Municipal Cemetery, in memory of the victims of the tragedy.
The flight
The fatal aircraft departed Larnaca Airport on the morning of August 14, 2005, with a final destination of Prague and an intermediate stop at "Eleftherios Venizelos" in Athens. At 10.15 in the morning, the aircraft entered the National Airspace of Athens, but without having any contact with the Control Tower.
At 11:05, two F-16 fighter jets took off from Nea Anchialos, which came into visual contact with the plane at 11:18 and determined that the aircraft's co-pilot was unconscious, the captain was not in his seat and the oxygen supply system with masks had been activated.
As the investigations showed, the aircraft was flying on autopilot and with all passengers unconscious except for flight attendant Andreas Prodromos who was trying to take control. At 12.05 the aircraft crashed in the mountainous area of Grammatiko, killing all 115 passengers and six crew members.
Judgment
On February 18, 2013, the Nicosia Criminal Court acquitted all defendants of all charges in the case of the fatal crash of the Boeing 737-300 aircraft in Grammatiko, Attica, on August 14, 2005, an accident that resulted in the death of 121 people.
The acquittal came after the suspension of the criminal prosecution registered by the General Prosecutor's Office for all accused individuals and the airline "Ilios".
The defendants were the Executive Chairman of “Ilios” Andreas Drakos and the CEO of the same company Dimitris Pantazis, as well as the Director of Flights Giorgos Kikkidis and the Bulgarian chief pilot of the company Yanko Stoimenov.
The Athens Court of Appeal had upheld the conviction imposed in the first instance by the Three-Member Misdemeanor Court, with its decision of February 7, 2013. Their sentence, 122 years in prison for each, had been converted to a ten-year sentence and then to a fine. After paying approximately 73 thousand euros each, they were released.
Based on the principle that no one is 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 advancing the case.
Source: KYPE
