Helios Flight 522: How a Single Switch Killed 121 Passengers

Summary

Helios Airways Flight 522, on August 14, 2005, became a tragic tale of miscommunication and oversight. The flight from Cyprus to Prague via Athens devolved into a silent disaster when the crew failed to recognize a pressurization issue, leading to hypoxia. Despite alarms and warnings, the pilots did not don oxygen masks, leading to impaired judgment. The flight eventually crashed near Grammatico village, claiming all 121 lives on board. Investigations revealed organizational failures and a flawed alarm system, resulting in legal battles and convictions.

Takeaways

• 🛫 Helios Airways Flight 522, a Boeing 737, was scheduled to fly from Cyprus to Prague via Athens on August 14, 2005, but ended in a tragic accident.
• 🔍 The flight crew reported a strange banging noise from one of the plane's doors during an earlier flight, which was inspected but not properly resolved.
• 🛠 The pressurization mode selector was mistakenly left on manual after ground inspection, leading to a lack of cabin pressurization during the flight.
• 👨‍🔧 Alan Irwin, a UK engineer, was in charge of the inspection and failed to recognize the pressurization mode selector was not reset to auto.
• 👨‍✈️ Captain Hans Jürgen Merton and First Officer Pampos Harolambos had a combined 23,000 hours of flying experience but overlooked the pressurization issue during their pre-flight checklist.
• 🚨 The pilots misinterpreted a critical pressurization alarm as a less severe takeoff configuration warning, failing to take appropriate action.
• 😵‍💫 Both pilots suffered from hypoxia due to the lack of oxygen in the cabin, leading to impaired judgment and inability to address the situation.
• 🛩️ Two F-16 fighter jets were dispatched to investigate the unresponsive aircraft, revealing the pilots were unconscious and passengers motionless.
• 🆘 Flight attendant Andreas Prodromo, a qualified pilot but without Boeing 737 training, attempted to control the plane during its descent.
• 💥 Flight 522 crashed into hilly terrain near Grammatico village, resulting in the loss of all 121 lives on board due to the rapid descent and impact.
• 📋 The air accident investigation report cited multiple failures in recognizing the pressurization issues and criticized an ineffective organizational culture.

Q & A

What was the scheduled route of Helios Airways Flight 522 on August 14, 2005?

The flight was scheduled to travel from Cyprus to Prague via Athens.

Why did the Greek army send two F-16 fighter jets to investigate Helios Airways Flight 522?

The Greek army sent the jets to investigate because there had been no communication from the plane for over an hour and the pilots were nowhere to be seen.

What was the initial issue reported by the crew on the night of August 13, 2005?

The crew reported a loud banging noise coming from one of the plane's doors and noticed that the seal around the door was frozen.

Who was in charge of the inspection of the plane after the crew reported the door issue?

44-year-old Alan Irwin, a well-liked and hands-on engineer from the UK, was in charge of the inspection.

What was the critical mistake made by Alan Irwin and his team during the inspection?

The critical mistake was that the pressurization mode selector was not set back to auto after performing the on-the-ground pressurization leak check.

Why was Captain Hans Jurgen Merten fired from his previous job at Jet2?

Hans Jurgen Merten was fired for repeated failures to comply with standard procedures.

What was the consequence of the pilots not noticing the pressurization mode selector was still on manual?

The cabin was not automatically pressurizing, leading to a situation where the air was getting thinner and there was increasingly less oxygen available.

What was the misinterpreted alarm that the pilots received at 12,000 feet?

The pilots misinterpreted the cabin altitude warning alarm as an erroneous takeoff configuration warning.

Why did the crew and passengers lose consciousness on Helios Airways Flight 522?

The crew and passengers lost consciousness due to rapid onset hypoxia caused by inadequate cabin pressurization and lack of oxygen.

What was the final fate of Helios Airways Flight 522?

The flight collided with the terrain just outside of Grammatico village, resulting in the loss of all 121 lives on board.

What were the charges brought against Helios officials, including Alan Irwin, after the accident?

Helios officials, including Alan Irwin, were charged with manslaughter after a legal battle with the Greek courts.

Outlines

00:00

🛫 Helios Flight 522: The Start of a Tragic Journey

The script begins with the eerie tale of Helios Airways Flight 522, which took off on August 14, 2005, from Cyprus to Prague via Athens. The flight mysteriously entered a loop at 35,000 feet with no communication for over an hour, leading to the Greek army dispatching F-16 fighter jets for investigation. The pilots were missing, signaling an impending disaster. The narrative rewinds to the previous day, detailing the flight's departure from London Heathrow and the subsequent strange banging noise from the plane's door. The issue was logged, and upon landing at Larnaca Airport, the crew passed the information to the ground engineer team for inspection. Alan Irwin, a UK engineer, performed a pressurization leak check, switching the pressurization mode selector from auto to manual, but failed to switch it back, setting the stage for the tragic events to unfold.

05:02

🔍 Pre-Flight Checks and the Chain of Errors

This paragraph delves into the pre-flight activities of Helios Flight 522. The crew, including two stand-ins due to staff sickness, went through their checklists hurriedly, missing the critical error of the pressurization mode selector still being on manual. The pilots, Captain Hans Jurgen Merton and First Officer Pampos Harolambos, had a troubled history, with Hans having been fired from a previous job for non-compliance with procedures and Pampos known for rushing through checklists. Despite their combined experience, they failed to notice the pressurization issue. As the plane climbed to 34,000 feet, the lack of oxygen in the cabin went unnoticed, and a loud alarm was misinterpreted as a takeoff configuration warning, further escalating the situation.

10:02

⚠️ The Alarm Ignored: Hypoxia Sets In

The narrative intensifies as the pilots of Flight 522, suffering from hypoxia due to the lack of cabin pressurization, misinterpret the critical alarm as a mere glitch. The effects of hypoxia, which include confusion, disorientation, and mood changes, quickly incapacitated the pilots, preventing them from taking necessary actions. Meanwhile, the master caution light indicated that oxygen masks had dropped in the cabin, providing only 12 minutes of oxygen, but the pilots were too impaired to understand the situation. Passengers and crew were left in a dire situation as the plane continued to fly on autopilot, reaching its cruising altitude with everyone on board unconscious or worse.

15:03

🚁 F-16 Intercept and the Realization of a Disaster

As Flight 522 entered Athens airspace, air control's repeated attempts to contact the plane went unanswered, leading to the dispatch of two F-16 fighter jets. The pilots of the F-16s reported a grim scene: the cockpit was empty, the first officer was slumped over the control panel, and the captain was missing, later found to have passed out. All passengers were motionless, their oxygen masks hanging uselessly above them. The realization of a major disaster struck as the plane entered an automated holding pattern over the Greek island of Kea, circling endlessly without any human control.

20:05

🛬 The Final Descent and Tragic Impact

In the final moments of Flight 522, Andreas Prodromo, a flight attendant and qualified pilot, attempted to control the plane from the cockpit. However, his lack of training on a Boeing 737 and the rapidly deteriorating situation led to a fatal outcome. As the plane ran out of fuel, it began to descend rapidly, with Andreas' desperate mayday calls going unanswered. The F-16 pilots watched helplessly as the plane crashed into the terrain near Grammatico village, killing all 121 people on board. The aftermath of the tragedy involved investigations, lawsuits, and legal battles, with the airline eventually going out of business and several officials found guilty of manslaughter, though some were able to avoid full punishment.

🏔️ The Legacy of Helios Flight 522

The script concludes with the lasting impact of the Helios Flight 522 tragedy. A memorial has been erected at the crash site to honor the victims, serving as a reminder of the lives lost. The incident highlighted the dangers of organizational culture that overlooks safety protocols and the importance of proper training and adherence to procedures. The story also raises questions about the actions of the cabin crew during the crisis and the potential missteps that may have led to their incapacitation, leaving the true details of their final moments a mystery.

Keywords

💡Helios Airways Flight 522

Helios Airways Flight 522 refers to a specific flight operated by Helios Airways, a Cypriot airline, which is the central focus of the video. The flight was scheduled to travel from Cyprus to Prague via Athens but tragically ended in a disaster. The script details the events leading up to the crash, making this keyword essential for understanding the video's narrative.

💡Pressurization Mode Selector

The pressurization mode selector is a cockpit control that determines how a plane's cabin pressure is regulated. In the context of the video, it was mistakenly left on manual after ground testing, leading to a failure in automatic pressurization. This oversight is a critical element in the chain of events that caused the hypoxia experienced by the crew and passengers of Flight 522.

💡Hypoxia

Hypoxia is a condition where the body is deprived of adequate oxygen supply. In the video, the crew and passengers of Helios Airways Flight 522 suffered from hypoxia due to the failure in the cabin pressurization system. The effects of hypoxia are detailed, illustrating its role in the pilots' impaired judgment and the ultimate crash of the flight.

💡Cabin Pressurization

Cabin pressurization is the process of maintaining a breathable air pressure inside an aircraft as it gains altitude. The video emphasizes the importance of proper cabin pressurization, as the failure to ensure it led to the hypoxia that incapacitated the crew and passengers of Flight 522.

💡Autopilot

Autopilot is a system that controls the aircraft's flight without constant input from a pilot. In the script, after the crew was incapacitated due to hypoxia, the plane continued to fly on autopilot, entering a holding pattern that was part of its missed approach procedure, highlighting the reliance on technology when human intervention is no longer possible.

💡F-16 Fighter Jets

F-16 fighter jets were dispatched by the Hellenic Air Force to investigate Flight 522 when contact was lost. The pilots of these jets provided crucial eyewitness accounts of the disaster, noting the lack of activity in the cockpit and the motionless passengers, which underscored the severity of the situation.

💡Air Accident Investigation

An air accident investigation is a formal inquiry into the circumstances of an aviation accident. The video mentions an 186-page report that was produced following the investigation into the crash of Helios Airways Flight 522. This process is vital for understanding the root causes of the disaster and for preventing similar incidents in the future.

💡Manslaughter Charges

Manslaughter charges were brought against four Helios officials, including Alan Irwin, following the crash of Flight 522. The video discusses the legal consequences for those found responsible for the organizational and procedural failures that contributed to the tragedy, highlighting the accountability of individuals in aviation safety.

💡Oxygen Masks

Oxygen masks are a safety device provided to passengers and crew on aircraft to supply breathable oxygen in the event of cabin depressurization. The script describes how the masks were deployed but were ultimately ineffective due to the prolonged duration of the hypoxic conditions on Flight 522, which led to the tragic loss of life.

💡Legal Settlement

A legal settlement refers to the resolution of a legal dispute without going to trial. The video mentions that several families of the victims sued Boeing for 76 million euros, and the case was settled out of court. This term is significant as it reflects the aftermath of the tragedy and the quest for justice by the victims' families.

💡Memorial

A memorial is a structure or site created to remember and honor those who have died, often as a result of a significant event. The video concludes with the mention of a memorial built at the crash site of Helios Airways Flight 522, serving as a poignant reminder of the lives lost in the tragedy and the importance of aviation safety.

Highlights

Helios Airways Flight 522 was stuck in a loop at 35,000 feet with no communication for over an hour, leading to a tragic airplane disaster.

The flight, a Boeing 737, had an initial issue with a door seal that was inspected but not properly resolved, setting off a chain of events.

The pressurization mode selector was left on manual, causing the cabin to not pressurize automatically, leading to a lack of oxygen.

Pilots failed to notice the abnormal altitude readings and ignored the cabin altitude warning alarm, mistaking it for a glitch.

Captain Hans Jurgen Merten had been fired from a previous job for not complying with procedures, a fact unknown to Helios Airways.

First Officer Pampos Harolambos had a history of rushing through checklists and was seeking new employment due to disagreements with the captain.

Both pilots were suffering from hypoxia, leading to impaired judgment and a failure to don oxygen masks when alarms sounded.

Flight attendant Andreas Prodromo, a qualified pilot without Boeing 737 training, attempted to control the plane during the crisis.

The plane entered an automated holding pattern after running out of fuel, with no one capable of flying it.

Two F-16 fighter jets were dispatched to investigate, revealing the dire situation inside the unresponsive aircraft.

All passengers and crew were found motionless, with oxygen masks hanging uselessly, indicating a complete loss of consciousness due to hypoxia.

Andreas Prodromo was seen in the cockpit attempting to control the plane, but the engines failed due to fuel deprivation.

Flight 522 crashed into hilly terrain, resulting in a fireball and the loss of all 121 lives on board.

An investigation report cited organizational failures and an ineffective culture that contributed to the disaster.

Legal battles ensued, with families suing Boeing and Helios officials charged with manslaughter, highlighting the negligence in alarm system design.

A memorial stands at the crash site, serving as a reminder of the tragedy and the lives lost.

Transcripts

[Music]

requested

on the 14th of august 2005 at 7 30 a.m

helios airways flight 522 a flight

scheduled to travel from cyprus to

prague via athens was stuck on a loop 35

000 feet in the sky and there had been

no communication from the plane for over

an hour

in a state of confusion the greek army

sent two f-16 fighter jets to

investigate but as one of the pilots

glanced a view inside the aircraft they

saw that disaster was about to unfold

because the pilots were nowhere to be

seen

they were about to witness one of the

worst airplane disasters in european

history

and it left everyone on the ground with

one question

what happened to helios flight

[Music]

the story of helios flight 522 began at

9 pm on saturday the 13th of august 2005

when a boeing 737 aircraft nicknamed

olympia departed london heathrow for

lanica cyprus the plane was owned by

helios airways a low-cost cypriot

airline that charted flights between

cyprus and the rest of europe the flight

was initially fairly uneventful but then

the crew heard something strange a loud

banging noise was coming from one of the

plane's doors upon further inspection it

also seemed that the seal around the

door was frozen following procedure one

of the flight's crew members made a note

of the incident in the aircraft cabin

defect log and when the plane landed at

larnica airport at 1 25 am local time

those notes were passed to the captain

for review who personally spoke to the

ground engineer team to ensure a full

inspection was carried out and with that

the crew left and a full inspection

began

the man in charge of the inspection was

44 year old alan irwin a well-liked and

hands-on engineer from the uk who had

been hired by helios airways on a

six-month contract

following standard operating procedure

for a boeing 737 allen carried out a

cabin pressurization leak check to test

the integrity of the door to do this he

and his team needed to manually

pressurize the plane while it was still

on the ground as part of that process

allen switched something known as the

pressurization mode selector located on

the cockpit panel from auto to manual

it's important to remember that a

plane's onboard pressurization system

ensures that the plane is adequately

oxygenated as it gains altitude this is

something that is always done

automatically but a manual option is

available in order to perform

on-the-ground tests however going

through this process allen and the rest

of his team were unable to recreate the

problem and so after carrying on with

other routine checks he noted down that

there were no known defects no leaks and

no abnormal noises alan and the rest of

his team felt that the on-board

pressurization system was working just

fine this is the moment that starts off

a chain of events that will seal the

fate of everyone on board because the

pressurization mode selector had not

been set back to auto

on sunday the 14th of august 2005 at 3

15 a.m local time the aircraft was

released for its 6am flight to prague

via athens

fast forward to 5am the crew for flight

522 arrived an hour before departure to

complete a standard pre-flight briefing

due to staff sickness there had been

some difficulty in putting together a

full crew luckily two attendants louisa

volterra and andreas prodromo were able

to fill in last minute initially andreas

was reluctant to join the crew but would

eventually agree after discovering that

his girlfriend also a flight attendant

was serving as a member of the cabin

crew on that particular flight the four

flight attendants would join 59 year old

captain hans jurgen merton and 51 year

old first officer pampos harolambos two

experienced pilots with a collective 23

thousand hours of flying experience

between them together this crew of six

would serve 115 passengers around a

third of whom were children

as the cabin crew were preparing for

takeoff they knew that this would be an

easy and short flight with experienced

pilots

but what they didn't know is that hans

was fired three months earlier by

british airline jet 2 for repeated

failures to comply with standard

procedures

in fact nobody knows this not even

helios themselves because han's

references were never asked for

on top of this first officer pampas also

has a record of rushing through

checklists and to make matters worse the

two pilots don't exactly see eye to eye

in fact pampos had complained multiple

times about han's attitude and was

actively seeking new employment

nonetheless as passengers began to board

the plane pamphos and hans worked

through their standard pre-flight

checklist

it is here that the string of

catastrophic errors continued

pre-flight checklists are lists of tasks

that should be performed by pilots and

aircrew prior to takeoff in the cockpit

pilots will be working through multiple

lists designed to ensure that all

switches and indicators are in the

correct positions but flight 522 was

slightly behind schedule and so as both

hans and pamhos rushed through their

checklists they both failed to register

that the pressurization mode selector

was still on manual at 607 am seven

minutes behind schedule the aircraft

took off from lanikai airport for the

first few minutes everything seemed

perfectly normal

four minutes after takeoff at 6 11 am

ground control cleared flight 522 for a

final cruising altitude of 34 000 feet

and the plane began its climb through

the clear blue cypriot sky it should be

said at this point that only the last

few hours of in-flight cockpit

recordings are actually available and so

much of this story has been pieced

together using the in-flight data

recorder on the ground recordings and

testimony as well as clues from the

crash site and what this all shows is

that due to the pressurization mode

selector still being set to manual the

cabin was not automatically pressurizing

meaning the air was getting thinner and

there was increasingly less oxygen

even though multiple indicators on the

cockpit dashboard clearly showed that

the altitude inside the cabin was

abnormally high for some reason neither

hans nor pampas

two pilots with tens of thousands of

hours of flight experience between them

noticed

at twelve thousand feet and climbing yet

another fatal and inexplicable error was

made when a loud alarm started sounding

in the cockpit

because the pilots had missed the

earlier signs that the cabin was not

adequately pressurizing

they misread this loud alarm as an

erroneous takeoff configuration warning

in other words a glitch this was in fact

the cabin altitude warning alarm while

the two sound exactly the same

where the alarm sounds indicates which

it is and when it sounds off in the air

it means one thing and one thing only

that there is an immediate and urgent

issue with the cabin pressurization and

that oxygen masks should be worn

immediately

neither hans nor pampos did this

instead at 6 14 am hans made a call down

to the helios dispatcher on the ground

at first he mentioned the erroneous

takeoff configuration warning which was

sounding in the cockpit this confused

the dispatcher because a takeoff

configuration alarm cannot sound at

twelve thousand feet in the air and so

he handed the call over to alan irwin

the on-duty ground engineer who had

performed the plane's inspection earlier

on in the day but things became even

stranger when the captain began to radio

down about a ventilation cooling system

error he stated that quote the

ventilation cooling fan lights were off

then moments later he directly

contradicted himself

to alan who was listening in on the

ground the conversation was as confusing

as it was bizarre but perhaps alan

thought hans is confusing two lights

that sit closely together and it was at

this point that he asked the captain

about the pressurization mode selector

to which he received no reply

allen didn't realize it at the time but

hans was behaving strangely because he

and his co-pilot were both suffering

from rapid onset hypoxia

a condition whereby the body is deprived

of oxygen

[Music]

the effects of hypoxia on the human body

are strange

at first the vision worsens slightly and

then confusion and disorientation begin

to set in quickly followed by lack of

coordination and then a mood change

which for some can be extreme

irritability and for some euphoria what

is particularly terrifying about hypoxia

is that one of the symptoms can be a

disassociation from the self meaning

sometimes people cannot truly grasp what

is happening to them

because hans and pampas did not

immediately put on their oxygen masks in

response to the alarm at 15 000 feet and

climbing these symptoms were coming on

very quickly and as they set in a

warning light known as the master

caution light came on to indicate that

masks had now dropped inside the

passenger cabin

those masks were able to distribute

approximately 12 minutes of oxygen per

person

more than enough for a plane to descend

to a safe and breathable altitude this

was yet another warning that something

was wrong with the cabin pressurization

system but it was too late

both pilots were now too impaired to

understand what was happening and they

were unable to work through the problem

logically instead both pilots got

distracted by the equipment cooling

light which came on because the onboard

computer systems were not being cooled

properly due to the inadequate

pressurization and it was this that both

pilots chose to focus on in their

increasingly hypoxic state

hans believed that it could be fixed by

a system reset and down on the ground

allen still baffled continued to ask

cons about the pressurization mode

selector hans ignored him and demanded

to know where the circuit cooling

breakers were to which allen replied

behind your seat

13 minutes after the flight took off at

6 20 am the line went silent

and alan confused but satisfied that he

had answered all of the captain's

questions

went home

at this point passengers inside the

cabin would have only had a few minutes

of oxygen left

we can never know what happened in that

cabin but we can reasonably assume that

there would have been panic and

confusion

following procedure the cabin crew would

have been seated waiting for the pilots

to perform an emergency descent to a

safe altitude instead the plane was on

autopilot and was continuing its climb

to 34 000 feet all the while the cabin

crew would have been aware that the

masks were fast running out of oxygen

as the passengers and the crew were

struggling in their last moments of

consciousness at 6 29 am the helios

dispatcher who initially took the call

from hans contacted ground control at

nearby nicosia airport he stated that he

hadn't been able to make further contact

with flight 522 for nine minutes the

dispatcher at necosia airport also

failed to reach the cockpit and at 6 36

a.m 16 minutes after last contact flight

522 began to enter athens airspace and

was handed over to athenian air control

over the next 40 minutes the air control

center team at athens and several planes

in the vicinity attempted and failed to

make contact

over 30 calls were made across multiple

frequencies

there was of course radio silence

flight 522 still looked as if it was

operating as normal leading teams on the

ground to theorize that there was an

issue with the onboard radio system at 7

20 am flight 522 began what looked like

a standard approach procedure but air

control watched on an utter astoundment

as the plane began to slowly turn back

around in the same direction that it

came entering what is known as an

automated holding pattern as part of its

missed approach procedure

over the greek island of kea

and it was here that flight 522 stayed

flying around on a repeated loop at this

point teams on the ground knew that

something was desperately wrong by 8 23

am the emergency level was elevated to

alert the hellenic air force had been

contacted and two f-16 fighter aircraft

were dispatched

just nine minutes later at 8 32 am the

two f-16 pilots described the disaster

that was about to unfold before

everyone's eyes

teams on the ground listened in horror

as they were told that first officer

pampos haralambos was slumped over the

control panel and captain hans jugg and

martin was nowhere to be seen

later they would find out that he had

passed out searching for the switch

behind his seat no one was flying that

plane the two f-16 pilots went on to

describe how all passengers were sat

completely motionless with their oxygen

masks dangling uselessly above them

i saw two passengers on the left side of

the aircraft they were sat motionless in

their seats and were wearing oxygen

masks on their faces that's when i saw

additional oxygen masks dangling from

the passengers overhead units even

though the passenger cabin was dark i

could see the shadow of the oxygen hoses

and masks against the daylight shining

through the windows on the other side of

the passenger cabin

the emergency level was now set to the

highest possible as rescue teams on the

ground attempted to make sense of this

horrifying new information

and then at 8 49 am during the plane's

tenth holding pattern the f-16 pilot

observed someone slowly making their way

to the cockpit the person put on a pair

of headphones and placed their hand on

the controls in front of them but just

one minute later the left engine stopped

working due to fuel deprivation and the

plane all of a sudden began to rapidly

descend the following conversation is

recorded between the two f-16 pilots and

the rescue teams on the ground

[Music]

it's at this point that they realize

that the person in the cockpit is

andreas pedromo one of the flight

attendants who agreed to fill in for a

sick colleague at the last moment

andreas investigators would later find

out was a qualified pilot and it

appeared that he was controlling the

plane but he had no training on a boeing

737 and the plane was now rapidly losing

altitude at a rate of around 1 500 feet

per minute

the f-16 pilots desperately tried to

make visual contact but andreas was not

responding

instead the words mayday mayday may day

this is helios airways flight 522

was weakly spoken into the cockpit radio

which was set to the wrong frequency

these recordings would later be

recovered from the crash site but as the

plane was going down andreas was

speaking into the void

[Music]

terrain

am the right engine on the plane gave

out

at this point andreas looked directly at

the f-16 pilot slowly lifted his hand

and weakly pointed downwards

[Music]

foreign

the plane's descent was happening so

quickly that the teams on the ground

were struggling to keep up

altitude

altitude

[Music]

[Music]

at nine hours 3 minutes and 32 seconds

flight 522 collided with the rolling

hilly terrain just outside of gramatico

village at 400 miles per hour causing a

fireball that instantly raised several

acres of land to the ground all 121

people on board lost their lives

instantly several were members of the

same family some were couples who went

on holiday leaving their children with

their parents reports would later show

that most passengers were alive but

unconscious

after the wild speculation amongst the

media subsided a

186-page air accident investigation

report was written this report cited

multiple failures to recognise the cabin

pressurization issues as they arose on

the day but they also revealed an

ineffective and dangerous organizational

culture that bent the rules beyond

recognition

in the absence of all but the last hour

of the cockpit voice recorder

one question is often asked about helios

flight 522

why did the cabin crew not immediately

enter the cockpit

and if they did why did they not make

contact with teams on the ground over

the radio

this is especially puzzling considering

that they had access to several hours of

oxygen

as well as clearly the cockpit access

code

even the report itself states that it is

rather puzzling

but perhaps the on-plane oxygen system

can give us a clue

because of the way the emergency oxygen

system works on a plane it's likely that

the adult passengers would have run out

of oxygen first

the crew had access to four emergency

oxygen cylinders and we know that three

of them were used but how and in what

manner is unclear is it possible that

some of the cabin crew may have

attempted to share their masks with say

one or several of the flight's younger

passengers

if this did happen

this would have created an extremely

dangerous situation because at 34 000

feet the effects of hypoxia set in at

around 30 seconds making the window for

what is referred to as useful

consciousness very short indeed perhaps

in order to help other passengers the

crew inadvertently incapacitated

themselves perhaps this was done in the

time that their own masks ran out on

their way to the emergency oxygen

cylinders or perhaps andreas

incapacitated himself helping his

partner these are of course just

theories because ultimately we will

never know

helios airways continued operations

until november 2006 but sustained

massive losses and eventually went out

of business

in 2007 several families of those who

died in the crash sued boeing for 76

million euros the lawyer leading the

case highlighted that having the same

alarm in place for two different types

of dysfunction one relatively minor and

the other with potentially devastating

consequences was negligent

all parties ended up settling out of

court

and then in 2008 four helios officials

including alan irwin were charged with

manslaughter and after a complicated

legal battle with the greek courts were

all eventually found guilty in april

2012. by 2013 however alan irwin had

successfully appealed

other helios officials were sentenced to

10 years but were all ultimately able to

pay their way out for 79 000 euros

this has angered some

who feel that to this day

justice has not been served today a

memorial dedicated to the victims has

been built on the crash site

it stands as a reminder of the lives

lost in this unbelievable tragedy

so

[Music]

you