Relatives of Helios tragedy victims pay respects at crash site

Relatives of those who died in the crash of Helios Airways Flight 522, which killed everyone on board, including 22 children, 18 years ago, paid their respects at the accident site on the mountain of Grammatikos in Attica on Monday.

The crash on August 14, 2005, caused the death of 103 Cypriot and 12 Greek passengers and six crew, becoming the worst civil aviation tragedy in the history of the two countries.

The aircraft crew and passengers became incapacitated shortly after takeoff from Larnaca due to a lack of cabin pressure, with the plane flying over Athens on autopilot before entering a holding pattern north of the city. 

As its fuel ran low, the plane lost altitude and crashed into the mountain, some 40 kilometers north of Athens airport.

The inquiry into the crash came to the conclusion that the pressurization system had not been set to automatic before takeoff.