This is something that is always done automatically, but a manual option is available in order to perform on-the-ground tests, because it is a life-preserving system and ensuring that it works is, of course, absolutely vital. It’s important to remember that a plane’s on-board pressurisation system ensures that the plane is adequately oxygenated as it gains altitude. As part of that process, Allan switched something known as the ‘pressurisation mode selector’ located on the cockpit panel from ‘auto’ to ‘manual’. To do this, he and his team needed to manually pressurise the plane while it was on the ground. įollowing standard operating procedure for a Boeing 737, Allan carried out a cabin pressurisation leak check to test the integrity of the door. The man in charge of the inspection was 44-year old Allan Irwin – a well-liked and hands-on engineer from the UK who had been hired by Helios Airways on a six month contract. With that, the crew left, and an inspection began. When the plane landed at Larnaca Airport at 1:25am local time, those notes were passed to the Captain for review, who personally spoke to the Ground Engineer Team to ensure a full inspection was carried out. Following procedure, one of the flight’s crew members made a note of the incident in the Aircraft Cabin defect log. Upon further inspection, it also seemed that the seal around the door was frozen. The flight was, initially, fairly uneventful.īut then the crew heard something strange - a loud banging noise was coming from one of the plane’s doors. The plane is owned by Helios Airways, a low-cost Cypriot airline that chartered flights between Cyprus and the rest of Europe. Give me something fast and quick.The story of Helios Flight 522 began at 9pm on Saturday 13th August, 2005, when a Boeing 737 aircraft, nicknamed ‘Olympia’, departed London-Heathrow for Larnaca, Cyprus. If I have to go in a plane crash, let me be killed by the force of an explosive decompression where the upper vertebrae are separated from the base of the skull and life as you know it is over. I would not want to go that way, in a fire, burned beyond recognition. Ten minutes after the loss of power from the left engine, the right engine also flamed out, and just before 12:04 the aircraft crashed into hills near Grammatiko. Almost as soon as he entered the cockpit, the left engine flamed out due to fuel exhaustion, the plane left the holding pattern and started to descend. In any case, he did not have time to save the stricken aircraft. Crash investigators concluded that Prodromou's experience was insufficient for him to gain control of the aircraft under the circumstances. ![]() ![]() Prodromou held a UK Commercial Pilot License, but was not qualified to fly the Boeing 737. They also reported that oxygen masks were seen dangling in the passenger cabin.Īt 11:49, flight attendant Andreas Prodromou entered the cockpit and sat down in the vacant captain's seat. They intercepted the passenger jet at 11:24 and observed that the first officer was slumped motionless at the controls and the captain's seat was vacant. Two F-16 fighter aircraft from the Hellenic Air Force 111th Combat Wing were scrambled from Nea Anchialos Air Base to establish visual contact. The aircraft took-off at 9:07 with the pressurisation system still set to "manual", and the aft outflow valve partially open. During none of these checks did the flight crew notice the incorrect setting of the pressurisation system and did not set it back to "auto". In order to carry out this check, the pressurisation system was set to "manual", and was not set back to "auto" on completion of the test.Īfter the aircraft was returned into service, the flight crew overlooked the pressurisation system on three separate occasions: during the pre-flight procedure, the after-start check, and the after take-off check. ![]() The inspection was carried out by a ground engineer who then performed a pressurization leak check. When the aircraft arrived from London Heathrow earlier that morning, the previous flight crew had reported a frozen door seal and abnormal noises coming from the right aft service door, and requested a full inspection of the door. There were problems reported with the plane at London - Heathrow:
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