Lest we forget…

A year has passed from the day the doomed Helios flight crashed near Athens and killed all 121 people on board.

As the days get nearer to the August 14 anniversary, accusations continue to fly in all directions with individuals and political parties playing the blame game in order to satisfy their own conscience.

Greek Air Accidents chief investigator Akrivos Tsolakis delayed announcing the results of his report into the crash until late August or early September, citing the mounting volume of evidence and details in order to pen his final conclusions.

The investigators in Cyprus too are waiting for the Tsolakis report in order to go proceed with their work, as the two jurisdictions have equal but different responsibilities – the Greek report looks at the accident from the Greek aviation point of view, while the Cyprus report will deal with matters relating to the island’s area.

One thing is clear, though. No minister or government official should dare consider a cover-up of any aspect of the whole tragedy, whether related to the airline and the aircraft in question, or whether as regards the civil aviation infrastructure and the handling of the whole situation before and after the crash.

The families of the victims who died have been patient and are listening to the wise words of Tsolakis, who is a well experienced man with extensive know-how from similar tragedies.

However, they remain united and should be respected for any action they decide to take either against the airline, the aircraft manufacturer or even the Cyprus government.

Their frustration is well justified and their grievance is unmatched.

This is an issue that indirectly involves Cyprus society as a whole that should realise that it is high time heads started to roll in this country.