Tension was high on Wednesday at the hearing of the Commission of Inquiry into the causes of an Helios Airways air crash in Greece in August 2005, as relatives of those killed gathered to listen to Executive President of former Helios Airways Andreas Drakos testify.
On his entry into the room were the process is taking place, the relatives shouted at Drakos ”killer”, ”murderer” and ”you killed our children.”
After Drakos testified, one of the relatives, Anthi Poyiatzi, requested permission to address the Commission to read out a text that had been prepared for Drakos and Panayiotis Kallis, who chairs the Commission.
Kallis replied positively but requested that Drakos be removed from the room first. In a matter of seconds, some 50 relatives surrounded and assaulted him. Police officers managed to lead Drakos to the offices of the Commission, which has been set up at the Conference Centre in
The relatives waited for Drakos to depart for about two hours, amidst sobs, shouting and fainting. An ambulance was called to provide assistance to those in need. Later on, the Police managed to lead Drakos out of the Conference Centre.
Speaking before the Commission, Drakos said he was in charge of the company’s strategy, development and expansion of its fleet. He noted that the company was not facing a cash flow problem and that he was not aware of reports stating the opposite by British Advisor to the Department of Civil Aviation Jim Taylor.
Kallis said
Poyiatzi read out to the reporters that which she intended to tell the Commission. She said she had lost her daughter and future son-in-law in the crash. ”They put them in a mobile coffin and killed them,” she added.
She furthermore requested that the names of those responsible be sent to the President of the Republic so that they could be punished, ”otherwise the souls of our children and the others lost will be a nightmare in the sleep of all those even in the least responsible.”
On August 14, 2005, an Helios Airways Boeing 737 on its way to
Former member of the Supreme Court Panayiotis Kallis was sworn in on 24 May 2006 as the member of the independent Commission of Inquiry that will fully look into the causes of the air crash. Kallis was appointed on 10 May 2006 by the Cabinet to look into all possible crash causes.
The Kallis Commission is expected to name those involved in the tragedy so that the Attorney General can bring criminal liability charges against those persons.
