A fighter jet pilot who witnessed a ‘ghost plane’ crash had haunting words in response.
One August morning back in 2005, Helios Airways Flight 522 crashed into a hillside near the village of Grammatiko, just outside of Athens, Greece.
It had taken off from Larnaca in Cyprus and was due to have a quick stopover in the Greek capital on its journey to Prague. But ground crew were left baffled when their radio calls to the aircraft went unanswered, having last heard from it shortly after take off when the pilots reported an air conditioning warning.
Fears soon sparked that there had been a hijacking or terrorism incident as contact could not be made. It soon came to light that it became a ‘ghost flight’ destined to crash, with all 115 passengers and the six crew onboard killed.
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Flight 522 had been circling aimlessly above Athens when fighter pilots noticed the first officer was slumped in his seat the controls and the captain’s seat was empty. While in the cabin, oxygen masks dangled in front of alive but unconscious passengers.
And all the fighter jet pilots could do was watch aimlessly, aware of the impending disaster that awaited.
The only person seemingly awake on the plane was flight attendant Andreas Prodromou, who was a qualified pilot but had no experience with flying this type of aircraft. He desperately attempted to steer it to safety but was tragically unable to avoid its disastrous outcome.
Less than three hours after Flight 522 took off, its engines failed within 10 minutes of each other, with Prodromou weakly pointing down to the fighter pilots. The aircraft eventually crashed into the hillside.
In resurfaced audio, the haunting words of one of those fighter jets can be heard as they witnessed the horrific crash.
“Mayday, mayday. Mambo, we have a civilian plane crash,” the fighter jet pilot can be heard telling the ground crew. “We have a civilian plane crash. Mayday, mayday.
“Mayday, mayday. Athens, the civilian plane crashed to a mountain peak."
An investigation into the tragedy revealed it occurred due to loss of cabin pressure, causing all onboard to experience the effects of hypoxia.
It was later theorised that the aircraft's cabin pressurisation switch had been left in 'manual' rather than 'auto' - leading to the depressurisation as the flight climbed into the sky.
Families of the victims would later file a lawsuit against Boeing in 2007, which was later settled out of court. Meanwhile six former Helios Airways employees were charged with manslaughter by a Greek court in 2008, but the case was ultimately dismissed in 2011.
Helios Airways ceased operations in 2006.
Jess Battison