![]() Investigators determined that there were several opportunities for the flight crew to correct the mode selector of the plane’s pressurisation system. Unfortunately, the engineers failed to return the selector position to ‘auto’. During a maintenance check, the engineers set the plane’s pressurisation system to manual mode to check a leak that was reported during its previous flight. Cause of Accident Maintenance Engineerĭuring the investigation, it was found that human error was the root cause of the accident. The aircraft continued to descend rapidly and crashed in the hilly terrain near Grammatiko village, approximately 33 km northwest of the Athens International Airport at 09:03 h. Ten minutes after the loss of power from the left engine, the right engine also flamed out. At 08:54 h the following distress was recorded by the cockpit voice recorder, “MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY, Helios Airways Flight 522 Athens … (unintelligible word)” and a few seconds later, another “MAYDAY, MAYDAY”. According to the flight data recorder the left engine flamed out at 8:49 h. Andreas banked the plane away from Athens towards a rural area. ![]() Final HopeĬrash site of helios flight 522 – Air Accident Investigation and Aviation Safety Board (AAISB)Īt approximately 08:49 h, during the tenth holding pattern, the F-16 pilot observed an individual who was identified to be Andreas Prodromou, in the cockpit trying to regain control of the aircraft with Haris Charalambous, his girlfriend, assisting him. There are no signs of terrorism and cabin oxygen is deployed. At 08:32 h, the F-16 pilot reported that the Captain’s seat was vacant and the First Officer slumped over the controls. ![]() At 08:23 h two F16 fighter aircraft of the Hellenic Air Force intercepted Helios 522 to investigate. Attempts to establish communication on the emergency frequency and other aircrafts were unsuccessful. No responseĪt 07:12 h, the Athinai Acc Controller contacted Helios flight 522 to issue a descent clearance. This was the last communication with the flight crew. Communication between the operations centre and flight crew ended at 06:20 h as the aircraft passes 28 900 ft. As the exchange continues, the passenger oxygen mask was automatically deployed as intended at 06:14 h at an altitude of 18 000ft. However, the captain, already experiencing the onset of hypoxia’s initial symptoms disregarded the question, and instead asked in reply, “Where are my equipment cooling circuit breakers?”. In one of the exchanges, the engineer asked the flight crew to confirm that the pressurization panel is set to AUTO. There was an exchange between an engineer and flight crew to try and rectify the issue. Communication with Company Operations Centre As a result, the crew contacted the company operations centre at 06:14 h to report “take-off configuration warning on” and “cooling equipment normal and alternate off line”. However, the crew misunderstood the alarm and identified the alarm as a takeoff configuration warning. Just 5 minutes after take-off, as the aircraft continue ascending, the cabin altitude warning horn sounded at an altitude of 12 040ft. Helios Airways Boeing 737-31S – Image Courtesy of Alan Lebeda Warning Horn Helios flight 522 departed Larnaca International Airport at 06:07 h (UTC). The aircraft was signed off and sent into service for the next flight HCY522 which was scheduled to leave Larnaca International Airport for Prague, the Czech Republic with a stopover at Athens. Upon completion of the test, the pressurisation system was not reset to ‘auto’ To perform this task, the pressurisation system has to be set to ‘manual’. An engineer proceeded to carry out a pressurization leak check. Prior to the flight, an inspection was done due to an issue on the right aft service door that was reported during its previous flight. The flight path of Helios Airways Flight 522 on 14 August 2005 – Courtesy of Oona Räisänen Maintenance
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