10/6/2023 0 Comments Helios airways 737![]() ![]() It was observed on radar to be continuing on its flight-planned track. Nicosia ACC called Athens ACC to say that the aircraft was at the FIR boundary but was not answering calls with a request to let them know if the aircraft called them. Further attempts using a relay aircraft were also unsuccessful. The Dispatcher called ATC and asked them to call the aircraft but they got no response either. Three and a half minutes later, the aircraft levelled off at F元40. Soon afterwards, the Dispatcher attempted to contact the aircraft again but there was no response. FDR data suggested that communication between the Captain and the Ground Engineer ended as the aircraft passed FL290 just over 13 minutes after take-off. This conversation resulted in information from the Captain that did not make sense to the engineer but given the close proximity of the pressure control panel to lights which the Captain was referring to and the fact that he had operated the pressure panel during an unscheduled maintenance input prior to the flight, he asked the Captain to confirm that the pressurisation panel was selected to AUTO. In response to the technical remarks by the Captain, the Dispatcher requested a company Ground Engineer to communicate with the Captain. Seven minutes after take-off during this communication, the passenger oxygen masks had deployed as designed when the cabin altitude exceeded 14,000 feet as the aircraft climbed through FL180. The climb was continued and, as the aircraft passed FL160, the Captain contacted the Company Operations and was reported to have advised the Dispatcher that "the take-off configuration warning was on and that the normal and alternate cooling equipment was off line”. FDR data indicated that 5½ minutes after take-off, as the aircraft climbed through FL120, the cabin high altitude warning sounded. The ETA for the crossing from Nicosia FIR to Athens FIR at EVENO was passed by AFTN as 30 minutes after take-off. The acknowledgement of this clearance was the last recorded communication between the flight crew and ATC. It was established that the flight had been cleared to climb to cruise at the requested F元40 on track by Nicosia ACC just 4½ minutes after take-off. He had 7,549 total flying hours including 3,991 hours on type and had joined Helios in April 2000. The 51 year-old First Officer was a Cyprus national who had completed his pilot training in the UK in the late 1980's. He had 16,900 total flying hours which included 5,500 hours in command on type and had been with Helios for just three months. It was found that the 59 year-old Captain was a German national who had begun his flying career as a First Officer with Interflug, the former East German airline, in 1970 before gaining his command there in 1978. 2 Pressure Controller - that from the No 1. Useful data was obtained from the NVM of the No. Data from the FDR and from the 30 minute CVR were recovered but the latter "was insufficient to provide key information that would have clarified the chain of events during the climb phase of the flight". InvestigationĪn Investigation was carried out by the Greek Air Accident Investigation and Aviation Safety Board AAIASB. The aircraft subsequently departed controlled flight and impacted terrain almost three hours after take-off and was destroyed and all 121 occupants were killed. On 14 August 2005, a Boeing 737-300 (5B-DBY) being operated by Helios Airways on an international passenger flight from Larnaca to Athens as HCY522 lost contact with ATC en-route and was subsequently intercepted when level at F元40 by two military aircraft, one of whose pilots observed in day VMC that the two 737 pilots were respectively incapacitated and absent from the flight deck.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |