Commission Takes Testimony; New Developments
A Boeing 737 aircraft of the Cypriot airline Helios Airways
crashed at Grammatikos near Athens on August 14th, killing the 121
passengers and crew aboard the machine.
Akrivos Tsolakis, chairman of Greece's Investigating Commission
of Air Accidents and Incidents, indicated last week in Cyprus that
the commission has reached a tentative conclusion and is now
filling in the blanks.
"We know where we are going and I can say that we know where we
will end," the executive told reporters at Larnaca Airport. He was
visiting Cyprus to take testimony from 20 people, 14 of whom had
already given initial statements.
Among his interviews were the pilots' aviation medical
examiners, Helios workers at Larnaca, air traffic controllers of
the Department of Civil Aviation, and workers at several airport
businesses that dealt with Helios or serviced its aircraft in some
way.
While he was doing that, four Commission experts were at Boeing
Commercial Airplane Company's plant in Washington, examining
components of the accident machine that had been taken to Seattle
for analysis by Boeing experts.
One of the last pieces of the
puzzle, assuming nothing changed during Tsolakis's visit to Cyprus,
is the toxicology reports on the crash victims. These reports have
been promised to the Commission by November 10th.
In the meantime, Tsolakis has received unsolicited advice from
an American law firm, apparently advancing causation theories and
offering its advice. The Greek official bristled at what he called
the "unacceptable" letter that "suggested how we should do our
job." He sent back a communication explaining the legal provisions
under which the Commission operates. (Greek law in this matter is
similar to ICAO standard and provides for the independence of the
commission).
Tsolakis has also asked relatives of crash victims to wait for
the official investigation before filing suit. It's unknown whether
the American law firm has clients or is just soliciting at this
point.
Akrivos Tsolakis has had a hard time keeping the lid on his
commission.
The Greek press on the mainland and on Cyprus has been clamoring
for information, and the press has been full of leaks and rumors.
But the problem is that both the leaks and rumors are identified as
leaks, so, until the Commission speaks, press reports must be
approached with caution.
The most recent claimed "leak" suggests that the aircraft did
not depressurize -- it was never pressurized in the first place. A
vital cabin pressure valve's control was left, according to this
claim, in manual mode. Normally pressure valves are under automatic
control. If a valve was open and under manual control, it would
have to have been closed manually for the aircraft to be
pressurized. But this is not routine procedure.
You could call that a leak about a leak. Is it a real leak, or
more speculation? It looks like we'll have a definitive answer
before very long.