The Greek Civil Aviation Authority refuted leaked reports emerging from the Cyprus Civil Aviation authorities dumping all blame and responsibility for the crash of the Helios flight last Sunday on the Greek side.
Unofficial reports said that the Cyprus Civil Aviation had been reported to be suggesting that most of the blame leading to the crash of the Helios Boeing 737-300 lies with their Greek counterparts since they had not been able to raise the alarm at the lack of communication with the plane.
The Greek Civil Aviation officials privately told Greece’s Alpha TV that their Cypriot counterparts shouldered most of the blame since they had not bothered to inform them that there was a problem with the airline, communicating to them that “the plane was just not responding.”
Furthermore, the Greeks claim that their Cypriot counterparts did not follow standard civil aviation procedure of alerting the station chief of the Civil Aviation regarding the problematic flight, and instead relayed their communication through junior staff at both ends. They also note the serious shortcomings noted by the International Civil Aviation body, which apparently had suggested that the Cyprus Civil Aviation Authority was not fit and properly trained and staffed to complete its duties to the full.
The fact that the British Civil Aviation has also “washed their hands” from Helios because as the Alpha TV report suggests, Helios had not paid the dues and thus the full responsibility for overseeing the Helios aircraft lied with the Cyprus Civil Aviation was also noted by the Greek sources.
At the Greek side, the person manning the shift at the Greek Civil Aviation authority is likely to be charged for negligence for not alerting officials of the lack of communications with the Helios aircraft.
Meanwhile, the government of Cyprus launched a surprise in-depth investigation into civil aviation department aircraft inspection procedures in a bid to determine whether there were any irregularities in relation with checks on Helios aircraft.
The investigation was undertaken by Communications Ministry Permanent Secretary Makis Constantinides, who arrived at the Department of Civil Aviation unannounced at 6.30 am. It is understood that the investigation was carried out on the ministry’s own initiative.
Constantinides later confirmed that it had been a surprise check aimed at scrutinising all documents related to Helios, including aircraft inspections and licences.
The checks would also look into the truthfulness of press reports that the ICAO had suggested that the Department of Civil Aviation was ineffective in carrying out checks.
Communications Minister Haris Thrasou suggested there was an attempt to mislead public opinion regarding the blame for the accident. The minister claimed that allegations published in a specific newspaper were groundless and had been refuted one by one.
He said the last time the ICAO reported on Cyprus was three years ago and the next report was expected in 2006.
Thrasou said substantial improvements had taken place since the last report and proof of that was the praise the department received from the JAA (Joint Aviation Authority) in its April 2005 report.
Thrasou has come under attack from several political parties to resign, while others have called on him to announce an independent commission to investigate the circumstances leading to and after the Helios aircraft crash that killed 121 persons in the worst airline tragedy of Cyprus.
